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Popular History of Utah 



v^ 



BY ORSON F. WHITNEY 



Complete in One Volume 
ILLUSTRATED 



SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 

THE DESERET NEWS 

1916 



■CVsfZ 



Copyright, 1916 
By The Deseret News 



h\ I Lf /^ 



Preface 

It has fallen to my lot to prepare for publication three his- 
tories of Utah. The earliest and largest, consisting of four 
volumes, published in elegant and expensive style, had of 
necessity but a limited circulation. Nevertheless it may be 
found in many homes throughout the State, and upon the 
shelves of leading libraries in various parts of the land. 

The second history w^as written at the request of local 
educators, for use in the grammar grades of the public schools. 
Prepared in haste to meet an urgent demand, "The Making of 
a State" did not aim to give a complete presentation of the sub- 
ject, though all salient points, social, political and industrial, 
were touched upon in its pages. Controversial matters were 
purposely omitted, for the sake of good feeling between "Mor- 
mon" and "Gentile" children attending those schools. 

The work now issued represents the realization of a desire 
to produce a history of Utah complete in a single volume, one 
that could be sold at such a figure as to place it within the 
reach of all. Moreover, it was my wish to make clearer certain 
points imperfectly presented in my first production. The period 
during which it was compiled — that of the anti-polygamy cru- 
sade — was one of strife and turmoil ; books and documents had 
been confiscated or were scattered; and sources of information 
were not accessible nor so plentiful as they are at the pres- 
ent time. Consequently I labored at a great disadvantage. 

The difficulty of writing contemporaneous history, amid 
the heat and stress of happenings involved in the narrative, is 
one recognized by all intelligent minds. That I have exper- 
ienced this difficulty, I admit. Never at any time, however, 
have I purposely misrepresented anybody or anything. I write 
from the "Mormon" viewpoint, but not as an Anti-"Gentile." 
I have none but friendly feelings toward all the people of Utah, 
regardless of sect, party, color, or creed. This is the story of 
my native State — a record of the facts as I behold them; and 
"with malice toward none," and "with charity for all," I send 
it forth upon its mission. 

ORSON F. WHITNEY. 
Salt Lake Citv. October. 1916. 



Contents 

PAGE. 

I. The Heart of the Desert (1540-1847) 1 

II. The First Inhabitants 8 

III. Nineteenth Century Pilgrims ( 1846) 18 

IV. The Pioneers ( 1847) 27 

V. The Shores of the Inland Sea ( 1847) 37 

VI. Early Events in the Valley ( 1847-1849) 45 

VII. The Provisional State of Deseret (1849-1851) . . . 53 

VIII. The Territory of Utah (1850-1853) 71 

IX. Growth of the Commonwealth (1852-1854) 87 

X. An Indian Uprising ( 1853-1854) 97 

XL Brigham Young Again Governor (1854-1857) . . 106 

XII. The Coming of Johnston's Army (1857) ....... 118 

XIII. The Mountain Meadows Massacre (1857) 129 

XIV. The Echo Canyon War (1857-1858) 142 

XV. Mediation, Peace and Pardon (1858) 151 

XVI. Camp Floyd Times (1858-1861) 161 

XVII. The Civil War Period ( 1861-1865 ) 178 

XVIII. Later in the Sixties (1865-1867) 199 

XIX. The Railroad and What Came with It ( 1868-1871 ) 216 

XX. Modern Guelph and Ghibelline (1867-1870) .... 234 

XXL Attempts at Reconstruction (1870-1871) 247 

XXII. ludge McKean and His "Mission" (1870-1872). 263 

XXIII. Sundry Events in the Seventies (1872-1877) .... 290 

XXIV. Dead and Living Issues (1878-1881) 315 

XXV. The Anti-Polvgamy Movement (1878-1882) .... 332 

XXVI. The Utah Commission (1882-1883) 347 

XXVII. An Approaching Storm (1882-1885) 366 

XXVIII. Under the Harrow (1885) 388 

XXIX. Sejisational Episodes (1885-1886) 412 

XXX. The Dark Before the Dawn (1886-1887) 435 

XXXI. Rifts in the Cloud ( 1887-1889) 454 

XXXII. The End of a Cycle (1889-1891) ■. . . 474 

XXXIII. Preparing for Sovereignty (1890-1895) 491 

XXXIV. The Forty-Fifth State ( 1896-1897) 506 

XXXV. War and Politics ( 1898-1916) 517 

XXXVI. Resources and Development (1916) 547 




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WHITNEY'S 

Popular History of Utah. 



THE HEART OF THE DESERT. 

1540-1847. 

The Great Basin. — West of the Rocky Mountains, that 
mighty continental barrier, divider of streams flowing toward 
the Pacific from waters that seek the Atlantic through the 
Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, there is a broad stretch of 
arid country called "The Great Basin;" a name given to it by 
Fremont the explorer. It was the driest and most desolate 
part of a region once known as "The Great American Desert," 
extending from what is now Western Colorado to Southeast- 
ern California, and from British America to Mexico. 

Character of the Country. — The Great Basin is an elevated 
intermountain plain, spreading five or six hundred miles east 
and west, and eight or nine hundred miles north and south. 
Its eastern rim is in the Wasatch Mountains, twenty to thirty 
miles east of Salt Lake Valley; its western limit is the Sierra 
Nevada system. It narrows on the north toward the Blue 
Mountains of Oregon, and converges on the south into Lower 
California. Though described as a plain or plateau, the country 
is far from level. Much of it is broken and irregular, being 
crossed, mostly north and south, by numerous smaller moun- 
tain ranges, and containing a number of sinks or lakes, the 
waters of which have no visible outlet. It comprises about 
210,000 square miles — the largest closed drainage area in 
North America. The altitude of much the larger part of the 
Basin is about four thousand feet above the level of the ocean.* 



*The Great Basin, as a descriptive term, is deemed by some a mis- 
nomer. Hubert Howe Bancroft, the Pacific States historian, thought 
the term "Great Gridiron" would have better described this mountain- 
walled, rock-ribbed wilderness. It is not a single depression, but a 
number of depressions considered as one because it sends no stream 
beyond its borders. 

Dean W. R. Harris, in his scholarly work, "The Catholic Church in 



2 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

A Prehistoric Sea. — It is believed, and the belief is con- 
firmed by geological signs, such as the remains of ancient 
beaches and river deltas, that the whole of this wide, dry area 
was once the bed of an inland sea, communicating with the 
Pacific. Many of the mountain tops were then submerged, 
while others were islands, laved or lashed by the billows. 
The canyons were connecting waterways between various 
parts of that prehistoric sea, the main body of which disap- 
peared before the foot of the European pressed the soil of the 
New World. The remnants of it are found in several smaller 
basins, parts of the Great Basin, holding the sinks or lakes men- 
tioned. The most important one is the basin or valley of the 
Great Salt Lake. 

Concerning the ancient shore lines found in this region, 
Dr. James E. Talmage, the Utah geologist, says : "The deltas 
of the Logan River form a series of sloping terraces extending 
downward from the mountain face. Each delta indicates the 
partial destruction of earlier depositions above. In Salt Lake 
Valley the delta formed by City Creek * * * reveals itself 
as high benches through which the stream has kept for itself 
a passage. Wave-action appears to have been unusually 
strong at this place, and consequently the typical delta form is 
considerably modified. The delta constructed by the Provo 
River in Utah Valley covers over twenty thousand acres, and 
another occurs a few miles to the south — the work of the 
Spanish Fork stream — with an area of eight thousand acres." 

Lake Bonneville. — The great body of water that once ex- 



Utah," thus describes the Great Basin: "This colossal inland depres- 
sion takes in the western half of Utah, including Sanpete, Sevier, Sum- 
mit, and Utah counties, and includes almost the entire State of Mevada. 
In southeastern Oregon the Basin absorbs a large territory and steals 
a portion of land from southeastern Idaho an4 southwestern Wyoming. 
It passes into California, extending along its eastern border, and, leap- 
ing to the southern end of the State, collects Imperial Valley, San 
Diego County, and portions of Lower California into its tremendous 
maw. Towards the east it touches the drainage basin of the Colorado 
River, and on the west it is bounded by the basins of the San Joaquin 
the Sacramento, and many lesser streams. The crest of the huge Sierra 
Nevada forms the great divide for the falling and flowing waters, and 
further south towering mountains hold its drainage within this terri- 
tory. Within the Basin are pleasant valleys, whose alluvial slopes and 
floors were raised by the detritus accumulating for uncounted ages 
from the surrounding mountains. Here, too, deserts of repellant aspect 
were formed, and among them are the Great Salt Lake and Carson 
desolations of sand and alkali, the Colorado and the burning Mojave 
of the southwest. The Sevier, the Ralston, the Amagosa and the 
Escalante wastes of sand occupy their own places in this marvelous 
formation, but are of subordinate importance. Enclosed within the 
Basin are the dreaded Death Valley, the Salton Sink and Coahuila 
desert, all of them lying below the face of the Pacific." 



THE HEART OF THE DESERT. 3 

isted here, or the bed that it once occupied, is known as a fossil 
sea, and bears the name "Lake Bonneville," in honor of an 
early explorer. This name, given by Washington Irving to 
the existing Lake, was subsequently bestowed upon its dead 
ancestor by Grover Karl Gilbert, an American scientist, whose 
report to the United States Government (1877-1878) is the 
accepted standard work on the geological history of the Great 
Salt Lake. According to Gilbert, Lake Bonneville did not 
cover the whole of the Great Basin, but only the Utah part of 
it. In Nevada there was a similar lake, La Hontan.* 

General Features and Divisions. — Only the western half 
of Utah is in the Great Basin. The State is divided, from 
northeast to southwest, by the Wasatch Mountains and their 
southern extension of hills and plateaus. East of that natural 
wall lies the region drained by Green and Grand rivers, afflu- 
ents of the Colorado. To the west spreads the Great Salt 
Lake, with its neighboring desert; the former wholly within 
Utah, the latter reaching into Nevada. Eastward from and 
forming a spur of the Wasatch, are the Uintah Mountains; 
while west of the Wasatch and parallel with that range, are 



*Dr. Talmage, whose interesting work, "The Great Salt Lake — 
Past and Present," is drawn upon for accompanying data, names as 
the principal divisions of Lake Bonneville: (1) The main body, com- 
prising the area of the existing Lake and that of the Salt Lake Desert; 
(2) Cache Bay to the north; (3) Sevier Bay, and (4) Escalante Bay, to 
the south. The ancient channel of the Bonneville outlet was discovered 
on the northern rim of Cache Valley, at Red Rock Pass, near Oxford, 
Idaho. "The honor of this discovery," says Talmage, "is accorded to 
Gilbert, though Peale has disputed Gilbert's rights of priority on the 
basis of Bradley's suggestion, made in 1872. Bonneville River flowed 
through Marsh Valley, being joined in this part of its course by the 
Portneuf. The combined streams then followed Portneuf Pass to 
Snake river, then to the Columbia. Above its junction with the Port- 
neuf the Bonneville River must have equalled and possibly exceeded in 
size the Niagara." The same authority states that Lake Bonneville, 
when at its highest level, had an extreme north and south length of 
three hundred miles, and a greatest east and west extent of one hun- 
dred eighty miles, presenting an area of 19,750 square miles. 

Major John W. Powell, the intrepid explorer of the Colorado River, 
in his report to the Federal Government (1880-1881), gives the follow- 
ing historical outline of Lake Bonneville: "First the waters were low, 
occupying, as Great Salt Lake now does, only a limited portion of the 
bottom of the basin. Then they gradually rose and spread, forming an 
inland sea, nearly equal to Lake Huron in extent, with a maximum 
depth of 1,000 feet. Then the waters fell, and the Lake not merely 
("v/indled in size, but absolutely disappeared, leaving a plain even 
more desolate than the Great Salt Lake Desert of today. Then they 
again rose, surpassing even their former height, and eventually over- 
flowing the basin at its northern edge, sending a tributary stream to 
the Columbia River; and. last, there was a second recession and the 
waters shrunk away, until now only Great Salt Lake and two smaller 
lakes remain." 



4 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



the Oquirrhs and other lines of hills. Southern Utah gener- 
ally is diversified with rocky ranges, broken ridges, valleys 
and plateaus. 

Great Salt Lake. — The Great Salt Lake is one of the most 
interesting natural objects in all the West. Extending along 
the base of the Wasatch Mountains north and south, a dis- 
tance of about seventy-five miles, it has a width of nearly fifty 
miles, and in places a depth of forty or fifty feet. Jutting up 
from the surface is a group or chain of mountain islands, partly 
submerged peaks, a continuation of neighboring ranges. These 

islands are nine in 
number, and are 
named as follows : 
Antelope, Stansbury, 
Carrington, Fremont, 
Gunnison, Dolphin, 
Mud, Strong's Knob, 
and Hat or Egg Isl- 
and. The Lake, as 
stated, has no visible 
outlet ; its waters, 
which are eight 
times brinier and 
consequently far 
more buoyant than 
those of the ocean, 
evaporate to the 
clouds or sink into 
subterranean depths. Owing to the intense saltness of these 
waters, fish cannot live in them. They were once supposed to 
have no life, but a small brine shrimp and three kinds of insects 
have been found therein. 

Other Water Bodies. — Into the Great Salt Lake flows the 
Jordan River, a narrow, winding stream, the outlet of Utah 
Lake, forty miles southward. The connection of these two 
lakes, one salt and the other fresh, by a river, added to the 
general contour of the country, suggests a comparison between 
Utah and the Land of Palestine. The Great Salt Lake has been 
called "The Dead Sea of America." 

Utah's lakes are mainly in the north. Of the fresh water 
bodies, Utah Lake and Bear Lake are the most notable. Bear 
Lake is partly in Idaho. Sevier Lake is a shallow brackish 
sink in Central Utah, and Little Salt Lake, a smaller sheet far- 
ther south. The rivers that feed these natural reservoirs are 
formed mainly by melted snows from the mountains. Away 
up near the snow-capped summits are still smaller fresh lakes, 
from which flow clear, ice-cold waters, tuml^ling over high 




THE BRINE SHRIMP. 



THE HEART OF THE DESERT. 5 

cliffs, forming- beautiful cascades, falling into deep ravines, 
into deeper gorges called canyons, and finally flowing out upon 
the thirsty, sun-parched plains. Hot and warm mineral springs, 
with healing waters, gush forth in places at the foot of the 
snow-crowned ranges. 

Still a Desert — Wild Growths — Fertile Spots. — The term 
"desert," formerly applied to this now promising and produc- 
tive region, was not a misnomer. Desert it was, uncultivated, 
uninhabited; and desert it is, in many parts, despite the won- 
drous changes that time and toil have wrought. Tillage, aided 
by irrigation, has done much to redeem the waste and render 
it fruitful, but much more remains to be done before the 
ancient desert shall finally disappear, and the phrase "Arid 
America" become obsolete. 

Trees are found among the mountains and along the water 
courses, but these are few and far between. In the canyons 
are groves of cottonwood, quaking asp, maple, cedar, and pine. 
and during spring and early summer rich grasses and wild 
flowers cover the sides of the ravines. But the valleys, when 
first settled, save for light fringes of verdure timidly following 
the trail of winding streams across sterile plains, had neither 
groves nor grass to hide their nakedness. Like the rocky hill- 
sides, they were utterly bare, or clothed only with sagebrush, 
sunflowers, and other wild growths, withering in the heat of 
the sun. 

Along the bases of the hills, where deposits from crumlj- 
ling rocks mingle with the debris of the plains, the soil is 
naturally productive, and when irrigated brings forth abund- 
antly. In other parts it is either pure desert, hopelessly bar- 
ren, or so devoid of moisture and so strongly impregnated with 
salt and alkali, that cultivation is almost impossible. 

Climate. Scenery, and Resources. — Utah is in the North 
Temperate Zone, between parallels 7i7 and 42 north latitude, 
and 109 and 114 west longitude. The climate is healthful and 
delightful. The mountains around the valleys ward off the 
keen wintry winds, and the rarity of the high atmosphere 
modifies the summer heat. The average annual rainfall is 
about twelve inches. In southwestern Utah — the Valley of 
the Rio Virgen — the climate is semi-tropical. 

The Utah scenery will compare with any in the w^rld. 
Here are mountains as grand as the Alps of Switzerland, and 
sunsets more gorgeous than those of Italy and Greece. In 
the south are marvelous canyons, mammoth stone bridges, 
and giant monoliths, master-works of nature, worthy to be 
classed with the wonders f)f all time. The lakes and mountain 
gorges will always be a source of delight to poets, painters, 
and lovers of the beautiful. 



6 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

The land, in spite of its dryness, is one of rich and varied 
resources. Where agriculture has succeeded, vast quantities 
of cereals are raised, with all varieties of fruits and vegetables 
common to the North Temperate Zone. The mountains are 
nature's treasure vaults, containing inexhaustible deposits of 
precious and useful metals. Gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, 
coal, and a hundred other minerals are found. The mountains 
and lakes could furnish salt and soda to supply a continent. 
From the quarries come marble, onyx, granite, and all kinds 




SUNSET ON THE GREAT SALT LAKE. 



of building stones, for the construction of temples, churches, 
school-houses, stately public edifices and handsome private 
homes, which now adorn and beautify the land. 

Previous Conditions, — When the Pioneers entered this 
region, however, it was a wilderness, a desolation, scorched by 
the sun and trodden by the roving red man, sharing with wild 
beasts and venomous reptiles these all but silent solitudes. Of 
the hunters and trappers of earlier times, there remained but 
a few straggling mountaineers, living in lonely log forts with 
their Indian wives and half-breed children, baiting the bear, 
trapping the beaver, and guiding the occasional emigrant train 
or chance traveler to or from the western ocean. Prior to 
1847 — the first year of pioneer occupancy — a few thousand 
Americans had settled among Indians and Spaniards on the 
Pacific Coast ; but none had settled here. Salt Lake Valley, 
with its surroundings, was a region coveted by none, shunned 
by all. 

"A Vast, Worthless Area." — What was thought at that 
time of the West by the people of the East, is told in a speech 



THE HEART OF THE DESERT. . 7 

said to have been delivered by Daniel Webster on the floor of 
the United States Senate. Someone had proposed the estab- 
lishment 1)y the United States Government, of a mail route 
from Independence. Missouri, to the mouth of the Columbia 
River; and Webster opposed the movement in these words: 
"What do we want with this vast, worthless area — this region 
of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of shifting sands and 
whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To what use 
could we ever hope to put these great deserts, or those endless 
mountain ranges?"* 

Yet it was to the very heart of this "vast, worthless area, 
this region of savages and wild beasts," that the Pioneers of 
Utah made their way. Here, upon Mexican soil, in the tops of 
the Rocky Mountains, in the midst of the Great American 
Desert, they lifted the Stars and Stripes, and laid the founda- 
tions of an American State. 



*In much the same vein Senator McDufiRe, of South Carolina, 
rifliculing, in 1843, the idea of a railroad to the Great West, exclaimed: 
"What is the nature of this country? * * * Qf what use will it be 
for agricultural purposes? Why. I would not for that purpose give a 
pinch of snufif for the whole territory. I thank God for his mercy in 
placing the Rocky Mountains there." 



11. 

THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 

Native Tribes. — Who were the first dwellers in the desert 
— the earliest human beings to inhabit this once lonely and des- 
olate land? A question for the archaeologist, rather than for 
the historian. So far as known, the original occupants of the 
region now embraced within the State of Utah were roving 
Indian tribes, the aborigines of America. Opinions are divided 
as to whether these included the Cliff Dwellers, a strange and 
interesting people the remains of whose work may be seen in 
recesses of the rocks in Southern Utah and other parts. Some 
authorities identify them with the Moquis and Hopis of Ari- 
zona, while others give them a much greater antiquity than 
any existing red race can boast. This much may be said: The 
Cliff Dwellers were here long before the savage tribes that 
were found by the Pioneers. Utah was named after one of 
those tribes. 

It has been supposed that that wonderful Indian race, the 
/\ztecs, who founded in Mexico the empire of the Montezu- 
nias, on their way thither from Azatlan, an unknown country 
in the north, halted for a long period upon the shores of the 
Great Salt Lake. If the supposition be correct, their presence 
here was prior to 1195 A. D., about which time the Aztecs 
reached the Valley of Mexico.* 

Utes and Shoshones. — Unlike the Aztecs, the Utahs or 
Utes were a degraded people. They neither built cities nor 
founded empires, but dwelt in caves and wigwams, and 
lived mainly by fishing and hunting. Part of their food was 
wild roots dug from the ground, and nuts and berries picked 
from bushes growing by the mountain streams. They also 
ate crickets and grasshoppers (locusts). f The Utes were a 
warlike race, and often fought fiercely among themselves. 
Their most hated foes were the Shoshones or Snake Indians, 
who roamed over a region east and north of the Great Salt 
Lake, while the Utes inhabited the country south. They 
ranged over an area extending from California to New Mex- 
ico. The Utes were divided into several bands under different 
chieftains, "united by a common language and affinities." They 
cherished many traditions pointing to prominent events in the 



*James D. McCabe. "History of the World," p. 1234. 

tThe crickets were driven by swarms into fires, and thus roasted. 
The grasshoppers were dried in the sun, and then pounded into meal, 
from which cakes were made, said to be tasteful and not at all nnwhole 
some, even to white men who were at times feasted upon them, not 
knowing of what they were composed. 



THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 9 

world's history, such as the Creation, the Flood, and the Res- 
urrection of Christ."* 

Spanish Explorers — Coronado — Cardenas. — The first white 
men who are known to have entered the Utah region, were a 
small party of Spaniards, soldiers in the army of Francisco Vaz- 
quez de Coronado, the explorer of New Mexico. This was in 
the year 1540. What is now Utah was then a part of Mexico, 
and Mexico belonged to Spain. Coronado, having been ap- 
pointed governor of NuevaCialicia. headed an expedition north- 
ward in search of Cibola and the Seven Cities, concerning which 
a Spanish priest, Marcos de Nizza, had reported to the Mexi- 
can authorities. While in New Mexico, Coronado heard of a 
great river to the northwest, and sent Captain (jarcia Lopez de 
Cardenas, with twelve men, to explore it. By way of the Mo- 
quis villages, Cardenas and his comrades came as far as the 
south bank of the Colorado, but did not cross the river. The}- 
soon returned to report to their commander at Cibola (Zuni). 




PURBI.O IIOMK.S. 



Escalante and Dominguez. — In July, 1776, two Spanish 
friars of the Franciscan order. Father Sylvestre Velez de Esca- 
lante and Father Francisco Atanasio de Dominguez, set out 
with seven men from Santa Fe, in quest of a direct route to 

*See James Liiifurth"'^ " Liverpool Route," puhli.-Iicd in 1S55; al^o 
a pamplilct issued by Dimick B. Huntington, Indi.-m interpreter, in 
1872, and rejiroduced in the "Improvement Era" for October, 1914. 



10 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Monterey, on the California sea-coast. Monterey had then 
been founded about six years, while Santa Fe had entered 
upon the latter half of its second century. The California 
town having- become a port of entry for goods shipped from 
Spain and southern Mexico, it was desirable that a road should 
be opened for the transmission of troops and supplies from 
that point to the New Mexican capital. Escalante, who had 
seen missionary service among the Indians, believed that 
such a road "could be discovered by passing west by north- 
west through the land of the Yutas." He convinced the Gov- 
ernor of New Mexico that the project was feasible, and he and 
his brother priest were placed at the head of an expedition hav- 
ing that discovery in view. The route they were looking for 
was an old Spanish trail leading westward from Taos. 

From Santa Fe to Utah Lake. — Pursuing a devious north- 
westerly course, the two Franciscans, with their party, trav- 
ersed what is now Western Colorado, and crossed White 
River, flowing west, near the Utah line. After passing Green 
River, ascending the Uintah, and reaching the Wasatch Moun- 
tains, they came upon the headwaters of Provo River, or one 
of the neighboring streams, and followed it down to Utah 
Lake. 

The Spaniards were kindly received by the native "Yutas" 
("Timpanois") living in willow huts in the valley, but could 

learn nothing of a route to the 
sea, nor of white settlers in all 
the surrounding region. They 
were told of a valley to the 
northward, in which was a 
wonderful lake of salt water, 
upon whose shores dwelt "a 
numerous and quiet nation" — 
the Puaguanipe or Sorcerers, 
speaking the language of, but 
not otherwise emulating the 
hostile Comanches, whom the 
Yutas greatly dreaded. The 
Puaguampe were also called 
Snake-eaters, and were prob- 
ably identical with the Snakes 
or Shoshones of later times. 

Escalante described Utah 
Valley — north of which he did 
not go^ — as level, and, except- 
ing the marshes on the lake 
A DANCING UTE. shorc, arable. The Spaniards 




THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 11 

named the Jordan River Santa Ana. Bear, deer, and buffalo 
ranged the region freely, and the bounding jack-rabbit was 
also plentiful. The streams were filled with fish, and the 
marshes with wild fowl. 

Expedition Abandoned. — Late in September the explor- 
ing party, with two native guides, resumed their journey. 
Passing down the Sevier River, which they christened Santa 
Isabel, they skirted the eastern shore of Sevier Lake, and cross- 
ing Beaver River and the adjacent mountains, visited the 
valley now bearing the name of Escalante. There, owing to 
the exhaustion of their food supplies, and discouraged by 
their failure to learn anything of an open route to the Pacific, 
they reluctantly abandoned the expedition. Traveling east- 
ward toward the Colorado, purchasing as they went seeds 
from the natives with which to make bread, they came to the 
bank of the great river, and found, after much difficulty, a ford 
near where Utah and Arizona now divide. Crossing the Grand 
Canyon, and passing thence by way of the Moquis villages, 
they reached Zuni, and in due time Santa Fe.* 

La Hontan,^ — The first white man to hear of the Great Salt 
Lake — if credence may be given to his rather fanciful narrative 
— was Baron La Hontan, Lord-Lieutenant of the French colony 
at Placentia, Newfoundland. His story, published in English in 
1735. tells how, in 1689, he sailed up "Long River," described 
as an afifluent of the Mississippi, for a period of six weeks, 
passing through various savage tribes until he came near the 
nation of the "Gnacsitares." There he met four captive slaves, 
"Mozeemleks," who gave him an account of the country from 
which they came. Their villages, they said, stood upon a 
stream springing out of a ridge of mountains where Long 
River took its rise. The Mozeemleks were "numerous and 
powerful." La Hontan was told that, a hundred and fifty 
leagues from where he stood, their principal river flowed into 
a salt lake, three hundred leagues in circumference, by thirty 
in breadth, the mouth of the river being two leagues wide. 
Along the lower part of the stream were "six noble cities," and 
more than a hundred towns, great and small, surrounded "that 
sort of sea." The lake was navigable for boats. The despotic 
government of the land was "lodged in the hands of one great 
head," to whom the rest paid "trembling submission." 

Fremont, the Pathfinder. — Captain John C. Fremont, sur- 



*The Journal or Diario of Fatlier Escalante. kept during his jour- 
ney to and from Utah Lake, is preserved in the National Library of the 
City of Mexico. H. H. Bancroft draws upon it in part for his History 
of Utah, and Dean Harris, in his work, presents what is claimed to be 
the first English translation of the entire document. 



12 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 




named "The Pathfinder," came to the shores of the Great Salt 
Lake in the autumn of 1843, after crossing the Rocky Moun- 
tains on his second explor- 
ing expedition to the West. 
The year before he had ven- 
tured only as far as South 
Pass. Accompanied by "Kit" 
Carson and others, he now- 
entered "The Great Basin," 
and on the sixth of Septem- 
ber, from the crest of an ele- 
vated peninsula (Low Moun- 
tain), a little north of We- 
ber River, caught his first 
glimpse of America's "Dead 
Sea." Launching his rubber 
boat he explored Fremont 
Island, named by him Dis- 
appointment Island, because 
he failed to find there the 
fertile fields and abundant 
game he had anticipated.* 
Fremont seems to have 
CAPTAIN FREMONT. thought it probable that he 

w'as the first white man, if not to see, at least to use a boat 
upon, this remarkable body of water. The Lake, however, had 
been discovered and boats launched upon it many years before 
the Pathfinder appeared upon the scene. 

The Fur Hunters — James Bridger, — Early in the nine- 
teenth century this region had been overrun by British and 
American fur hunters, one of whom, James Bridger, commonly 
known as Colonel Bridger, claimed to have discovered the 
Lake in 1825.t 

Bridger w^as then trapping on Bear River. In order to 

*Disappointment Island was renamed Fremont Island by Captain 
Howard Stansbury, U. S. A., in 1849. 

tjohn Jacob Astor, of New York City, was the patriarch of the fnr 
trade in the United States. As told by Washington Irving, in his enter- 
taining volnme "Astoria." Astor founded the American Fur Company, 
in 1808-1809, and later established Astoria, an Indian trading post, at 
the mouth of the Columbia River. His plan was to have a line of such 
posts along the Missouri and the Columbia, with Astoria as the em- 
porium or base of supplies. This was the first attempt by an American 
citizen to break the monopoly of the fur trade inherited by the British 
from the French at the conquest of Canada. Astor desired New York, 
instead of London, to be the main market for the lucrative trade in 
American peltries. He proposed to dispute the supremacy of the Brit- 
ish fur companies among the Indian tribes of the Great West, and at 
the same time form a friendly alliance with the Russian Fur Company, 
which supplied St. Petersburg and the Chinese Empire with the prod- 



THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 



13 




decide a wager among his men, as to the probable course of 
that stream, he followed it through the mountains to the lake 
shore. In 1827 four men explored the Lake with skin boats, 
and reported that it had no outlet. Many supposed it to be 
an arm of the Pacific Ocean. Colonel Bridger established, on 

Black's Fork of Green River, a 
trading post known as Fort 
Bridger, the site of which is 
now in southwestern Wyoming 
Trappers and Traders. — 
Other names borne by various 
objects in this region were 
those of scouts, trappers and 
traders in early times. Among 
them may be mentioned Peter 
Skeen Ogden, of the Hudson 
Bay Company, and Etienne 
Provot, for whom Provo River 
was named. Weber River was 
christened for a trapper on that 
stream. General Ashley's name 
still clings to Ashley's Fork, 
and Major Henry's, to the 
Henry Mountains. Carson 
River, now in Nevada, took its 
name from Christopher ("Kit") Carson. 

nets of this industry on American shores. Astoria, captured by the 
ISritish during the war of 1812, became a trading post of the Northwest 
Fur Company, which retained possession of it after the war. The 
Northwest Company, after a ruinous competition with the Hudson 
Bay Company, another British concern, was merged into the latter 
organization, which thenceforth controlled most of the fur trade from 
Alaska to California, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific 
Ocean. They removed their emporium from Astoria (Fort George) 
to Fort Vancouver, sixty miles up the Columbia River, and from that 
point continued to furnish their interior posts and send forth their 
brigades of trappers. 

The American fur traders were at first content to follow up the 
liead branches of the Missouri, the Yellowstone, and other rivers and 
streams on the Atlantic side of the Rocky Mountains. In 1822 General 
William X. Ashley, of St. Louis, with Major Andrew Henry, the first 
American to trap on the headwaters of the Columbia, founded a trad- 
ing Dost on the Yellowstone, and during the following year pushed a 
resolute band of trappers into the Green River country. This attempt 
was succeeded by others, until in 1825 a footing was secured and a 
complete sj-stem of trapping organized west of the Rockies. In 1830 
Ashley, with William Sublette, Robert Campbell, James Bridger, 
Thomas Fitzpatrick, Jedediah S. Smith and others, formed the Rocky 
Mountain Fur Company, which had at one time a fort on Utah Lake, 
then Lake Ashley. Ashley named Green River after one of his com- 
panions, and is said to have embarked upon that stream with a fleet of 
rafts loaded with peltries, thinking he could drift down to St. Louis. 



COLONEL BRIDGER. 



14 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Captain Bonneville. — In November, 1833, came Captain 
Benjaniin Bonneville, U. S. A., whose adventures in the West 
were immortalized by Washington Irving. Of French par- 
entage, but of American rearing, Bonneville was a graduate 
of West Point, and had been stationed at various military 
posts on the frontier, prior to undertaking his renowned ex- 
pedition. Having obtained leave of absence, he enlisted over 
one hundred men, most of whom had had experience in the 
Indian country, and in May, 1832, set out from Fort Osage, 
on the Missouri River. Crossing the Rocky Mountains, he 
made a tour through the Northwest, and coming south, 

camped on Bear River. He 
wrote a description of the 
Great Salt Lake, and direct- 
ed some of his men to ex- 
plore it; but they wandered 
from their course, and at 
Monterey wasted their means 
in riotous living, much to 
the disgust of their com- 
mander. Bonneville had 
come west not merely for 
adventure, but to trade with 
the Indians on his own ac- 
count, and to study their 
customs and the character of 
the country for the benefit 
of the Federal Government. 
He brought twenty wagons, 
loaded with Indian goods, provisions, and ammunition, and is 
believed to have been the first to use ox teams upon this line 
of travel. 

Bonneville's hope was to revive the American fur trade 
on the Columbia River, but he was hampered by the powerful 
influence of the Hudson Bay Company, which held almost 
absolute sway over the Indian tribes; a condition deemed 
perilous to the United States. The Company's representa- 
tives refused to sell supplies to Bonneville so long as he was 
conducting a rival enterprise, and it was this circumstance 
that compelled him to move southward.* 




CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE. 



*Back from his expedition in 1835, the explorer, while at the coun- 
try home of John Jacob Astor, met Washington Irving, and placed at 
the disposal of the great narrator his journals descriptive of his inter- 
esting experiences. The result was the publication, in 1837, of "The 
Adventures of Captain Bonneville." In honor of the captain, Irving 
named the Great Salt Lake, "Lake Bonneville." but history would not 
have it so, preferring that the ancient fossil sea should bear that name. 



THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 15 

Missionaries and Emigrants — The Mirage. — In 1832 par- 
ties of missionaries, men and women, crossed the country to 
the Pacific Coast, and about that time a few American emi- 
grants settled in Oregon. Not until 1841, liowever, did reg- 
ular emigration to California begin. 

Among the earliest to reach the future land of gold by 
way of the Utah region, were James Bidwell and Josiah Bel- 
den, both prominent in Western history of a later period. 
They recorded their impressions of the overland journey in a 
series of articles published in leading American magazines. 
They were wonder-struck by the phenomenon of the mirage, 
in the vicinity of the Salt Lake Desert, regarding which Cap- 
tain Stansbur}' afterwards said: "The mirage, which fre- 
quently occurs, is greater here than I ever witnessed else- 
where, distorting objects in the most grotesque manner, de- 
fying all calculation as to their size, shape, or distance, and 
giving rise to optical illusions almost beyond belief." 

International Dispute Over Oregon. — When the first 
Americans settled on the Pacific Coast. California, including 
Utah and Nevada, was a province of Mexico; while Oregon, 
embracing Washington. Idaho and other parts, was claimed 
by Great Britain and the United States. The dispute over 
the northwest boundary came very near bringing on a war 
between the two nations.* 

The Overland Route. — Westward travel over the plains 



*The United States laid claim to the country west of the Rockj' 
Mountains from the northern line of California to the southern bound- 
ary of Alaska, or the parallel of 54° 40'. Hence the phrase, "Fifty-four 
Forty or Fight," a Democratic political slogan of that period. The 
British claim extended as far south as the Columbia River. 

Says Dr. Wilbur F. Gordy, an American historian: "We had sev- 
eral reasons for claiming Orego:!. In 1792 Captain Gray, of Boston, 
discovered the Columbia River, which he named in honor of his ship; 
in 1805 Lewis and Clark explored this river, and in 1811 an American 
company established at its mouth the trading post Astoria. But we 
made a yet stronger claim by reason of the actual settlements which 
Americans planted there before 1845. These settlements began in a 
small way as early as 1832. * * * In this matter of planting settle- 
ments we had the advantage of England, because we were nearer the 
disputed territory. For a long time, to be sure, the English Hudson 
Bay Compan}' had been out there making money in fur trading, but 
this comjiany had planted no settlement. * * * The English Hud- 
son Bay Company held onlj' a small number of military posts and 
trading stations. The United State? could therefore claim the country 
bv right of actual possession." — "Historv of the United States," pp. 
269, 270. 

The controversy became serious, but a clash of arms was happily 
averted. In 1846, after a joint occupancy, each country, by treaty, 
gave up a part of its claim, and the boundary line was then fixed at 
49°, where it sti'l remains. 



16 VVHITNEY'S I'Ul'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

usually started from Independence, Missouri, which was then 
on the frontier of the United States. Most of the emii^rants 
traveled in companies, for society, aid and protection. Those 
not already ])rovided with outfits procured them on the fron- 
tier, each family requiring one or more covered wagons 
("prairie schooners") loaded with provisions and supplies. 
.Vs a rule the wagons were drawn by oxen, and four or hve 
months were consumed in journeying over plains and moun- 
tains to the sea. The usual route of travel was up the Platte 
River, past Forts Kearney and Laramie, and thence along the 
Sweetwater and through South Pass. \Vest of the Pass — 
now in Wyoming— those going to Oregon turned northward 
to Fort Hall: while those bound for California followed Bear 
River to within a few miles of the Great Salt Lake, and then, 
turning westward to Humboldt River, crossed the country to 
the Sierra Nevada.* 

The Donner Party. — One of those early emigrant com- 
panies was extremely unfortunate. The Donner Party, as it 
was called, comprised eighty-seven fnen, women and children, 
led by George Donner and James F. Reed. They left Inde- 
pendence late in April or early in May, 1846, and in July 
reached Fort Bridger. There they tarried several days before 
setting out for California. The usual route from Fort Bridger 
was by way of Bear River, Fort Hall, and the northern shore 
of the Great Salt Lake; but another route, just beginning to 
be traveled, passed through Echo and Weber Canyons and 
around the south side of the Lake. This was called "The irlast- 
ings Cut-off," its projector being Lansford W. Hastings, a 
mountaineer and guide. Friends of Mr. Reed, who had pre- 
ceded him to California, had written, warning him not to take 
the cut-off, but to travel by way of Fort Hall. That letter he 
never received. At Fort Bridger he and his companions were 
persuaded to follow the new trail as far as the foot of Echo 
Canyon, and there take another cut-oft', up East Canyon, over 
the Wasatch Mountains, and down the gorge now known as 
Emigration Canyon. 

The journey was exceedingly difficult. They were sixteen 
days in cutting a road through the mountains. Then came the 
crossing of the desert, where many of their cattle died for 
want of grass and water, while others wandered away or 
were stolen bv Indians. Some of the wagons had to be left 



*Fort Kearnej' (Xt;braska) was a (jovernincnt post, and Fort 
Laramie (Wyoming) also became one, though formerly a station of 
the .American Fur Company. Fort Hall (Idaho), an establishment of 
the Hudson Bay Company, though it was in the same region, is not to 
be confounded with the post now bearing that name. 



THE FIRST INHABITANTS. 17 

behind. Delayed by these and other misfortunes, the ill-fated 
emigrants did not strike the main trail on the Humboldt until 
late in September, after the last companies of the season had 
gone by. Another month brought them to Truckee Pass, 
where early snows blocked the way. Some killed their cattle 
and went into winter quarters, while others delayed building 
cabins until heavier snows fell. 

A Tragic Fate. — It was now December; their provisions 
were almost gone, and starvation stared the unfortunate trav- 
elers in the face. A number of them, putting on snow shoes, 
crossed the stormy mountains to New Helvetia (Sacra- 
mento) ; but before reaching there several died from cold, hun- 
ger, and exhaustion, and the others, in order to save them- 
selves, ate the flesh of the dead. Relief parties were sent back 
to the main company, and most of them were saved ; but thirty- 
nine of the original eighty-seven perished. The survivors, 
when found, had been living for weeks like cannibals. The 
last one was picked up in April, 1847, the same month that 
the Pioneers of Utah set out for the West. 



111. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY PILGRIMS. 

1846. 

The Latter-day Saints. — Utah owes her existence as a 
common weahh to a movement similar in some of its phases 
to that which peopled New England with representatives of 
the Anglo-Saxon race. No history of the United States could 

be written without reference to 
the Pilgrims and Purkans; and 
no histpr'y75t~ijtah would l)e 
])ossi^ile without allusion to the 
Pafter-day Saints, or "Mor- 
mons." This religious commu- 
nity sent f(irth the Pioneers 
who founded Utah, and it also 
furnished much the greater 
part i)f the immigration that 
subsequently built up the State. 
The principal achievements of 
the "Gentile," or non-Mormon 
portion of our people, though 
liighl}' important, are of a later 
])eriod than the work done by 
the Pioneers and those who 
followed immediately after 
them.* 

Civilization Amidst Sav- 
agery. — Those early settlers 
were the vanguard of progress, 
the builders of empire in the 
barren heart of the West. They 
planted ci\ilization in the midst of savagery, and to them, more 
than to any other i)eople. owing to their unity, communal 




TO.^EPII SMITH. 



*The Latter-day Saints are called "^[ornions," because of their 
1)elief in tlie Book of Mormon, a record of prehistoric America, trans- 
lated into English by Joseph Smith, who declared that it had been 
divinely revealed to him. The Book of Mormon refers to the people 
of Europe and America as "Gentiles." It is not an opprobrious term. 
Springing from "Gentilis," signifying "of a nation," it was used 
anciently to indicate those who were not of Israel, but who were de- 
scended from Japheth, son of Noah, whose son Shem was ancestor to 
the Hebrew patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The word "Mor- 
mon," like the word "Christian," was originally intended as a term of 
reproach, but no such intent is in the use, by Latter-day Saints, of the 
word "Gentile." 



NINF/rKl':\"l"ll Ci-lXTUkV I'lLCklMS. V) 

spirit, and systematic methods, is due the redemption of "Arid 
America." Their industry and that nf their successors made 
the desert Basin habitahle. 'I'lic foundini;- of Utah greatlv fa- 
cilitated the settlement of the .States now clusterini^- around 
her. 

The "Mormon" Exodus. — "Mormonism's" westward 
movement — referring" now to the exodus of its adherents from 
the United States — began almost simultaneously with the out- 
i)reak of the Mexican War. The Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-da}' Saints — commonly known as the "Mormon Church" 
— was then about completing its sixteenth year. It had mi- 
grated successively from three States in the Union — New 
York, wdiere it had its origin; Ohio, and Missouri. The re- 
moval from Missouri w^as compulsory ; it was the result of re- 
ligious and political differences between the "Mormon" peo])le 
and other inhabitants of that State. j()sei)h Smith, the founder 
of the Church, who was born near Sharon, \'ermont, Decem- 
ber 23, 1805. fell a victim to mob violence at Carthai^e. Illinois, 
June 27. 1844. The next chapter in the checkered history of 
his followers was their exodus from Illinois — their enforced 
departure into the western wilderness. 

That exodus began in February, 1846, and in April the 
Mexican \\^ar broke out. By that time the main body of the 
homeless people, with their heavily loaded wagons, after leav- 
ing Nauvoo, their main city. and passing the frozen Mississippi, 
were well on their way across Iowa, approaching the threshold 
of the wilderness. The purpose of the moving community was 
to find a new home in the West. About the middle of June 
their vanguard reached the Missouri River, and encamped tem- 
porarily at Council Bluff's, on the Pottawattamie Indian lands. 
There was no city — only the Bluffs, where Indian chiefs some- 
times sat in council. 

On the Threshold of the Wilderness. — The exiles were 
now upon the frontier, the extreme western fringe of civiliza- 
tion. Beyond lav the broad plains where the savage red man 
roamed, an immense tract of unoccupied country, out of wdiich 
Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and other populous States 
or parts of States have since been formed. It was a portion of 
the Province of Louisiana, once held by Spain. l)ut ])urchased, 
in 1803, from France bv the Federal Government.* 



*This was the greatest event in the administration of President 
Thomas Jefferson. Prior to that time the area of the United State^^ 
was 837,844 square miles: the Louisiana Purchase added to it 
1,171.931 square miles. After tlie purchase, wliich was for fifteen 
million dollars, and pursuant to a recommendation bj' the Pres- 
ident to Congress, an exploring partj' of thirty men, under Lewis and 
Clark, started from St. Louis on a northwesterly journey to the Pacific 
Ocean. This was in 1804. 'I'lie Lewis and Clark expedition acquainted 



20 WHITNEY'S rOPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Farther west were the snow-capped summits of the Rocky 
Mountains, and farther still, the sunburnt valleys and dry 
plateaus of the Great Basin, separated from the Pacific Coast 
by the Sierra Nevada range. West of that rocky barrier 
the land was fertile, sloping down to the sea; but eastward, 
for many a weary league, it was a waste, almost treeless and 
waterless. 

Mexican Possessions. — This arid, desolate region belonged 
to Mexico, which country had thrown ofif foreign rule (1812-21) 
and become an independent nation, inheriting the earh^ Spanish 
dominions in North America. The present States of California, 
Nevada, and Utah were parts of the Mexican province of Cal- 
ifornia, east of which was another province, New Mexico, in- 
cluding all or most of Arizona. Oregon, as already shown, 
was claimed both by Great Britain and the United States. The 
British also coveted California. Such was the posture of af- 
fairs in the West at the beginning of the war with Mexico. 

The Mexican War. — The original cause of this conflict 
was the annexation of Texas, an act resented by Mexico, who 
suspected the United States of predatory designs upon her pos- 
sessions. Hostilities began on the Texan frontier, where the 
victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, won by General 
Zachary Taylor early in May, drove the Mexicans across the 
Rio Grande. There, in the opinion of many Americans, the 
war should have ended ; but the majority of the Nation, and 
especially the South, bent upon extending slavery, had set its 
heart upon more. To acquire additional territory for future 
States, and to checkmate Great Britain in her ambitious de- 
signs upon California, the strife was permitted to continue. 
President Polk was authorized by Congress to call for fifty 
thousand volunteers, and the sum of ten million dollars was 
voted for war purposes.* 



the American people with the extent and riclmess of the Louisiana 
Purchase. 

"Four nations — France. Spain, Great Britain, and the United 
States, were concerned in determining the boundaries of this territorj'. 
It was finally agreed that American Louisiana should extend from the 
Mississippi along the tliirti'-first parallel to the Gulf of Mexico, thence 
along the Red River up to the Arkansas, and thence north with the 
mountain chain to the forty-second parallel of latitude. The region 
practically included the present States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Alis- 
souri, Iowa. Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, the Dakotas,. 
Montana, Wyoming, and Indian Territory." — Edwin Emerson, Jr., 
"History of the Nineteenth Century," Vol. I. pp. 100, 101. 

*General Grant, in his "Personal Memoirs," declares the Mexican 
War "one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a 
weaker nation." Grant and his great antagonist, Lee, both served with 
distinction during the strife. James Russell Lowell, in the "Biglow 
Papers," reflects the New England sentiment against the war. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY PILGRIMS. 21 

Government Aid Solicited.— Shortly before these events, 
and immediately prior to the beginning of the exodus from 
Illinois, an agent of the Latter-day Saints, acting under in- 
structions from Brigham Young, who had succeeded Joseph 
Smith at the head of the "Mormon" community, went "to the 
City of Washington to solicit government aid for his people. 
No gift of money or of other means was asked^only employ- 
ment in freighting provisions and naval stores to Oregon or 
other points on the Pacific. That agent, Jesse C. Little, repre- 
sented in his petition — presented after the exodus began — that 
many of his co-religionists had already left Illinois for Cali- 
fornia, and that thousands of others, in the United States and 
in the British Isles, would go there as soon as they were able.* 

President Polk — Military Plans. — President Polk received 
Mr. Little kindly, and promised to do what he could for the 
homeless people. He referred to them as "loyal Americans," 
against whom he had no prejudice. 

Just at this juncture the news reached ^^^ashington that 
General Taylor had fought two battles with the Mexicans, and 
these tidings determined the President upon taking immediate 
possession of California, and using, some of the migrating 
"Mormons" as part of the force necessary for that purpose. 

It was decided to strike Mexico at three points ; General 
Taylor to continue operations along the Rio Grande ; General 
Winfield Scott, the commander-in-chief, to invade Mexico from 
the Gulf Coast; while General Stephen Kearney, with a third 
army, marched overland to capture the Mexican provinces in 
the West. A portion of Kearney's force was to be recruited 
from the "Mormon" camps on the frontier. 

The Call for the Mormon Battalion. — The first intimation 
had by the "Mormon" leaders res]:)ecting this purpose of the 
Government was the appearance at Mt. Pisgah. one of their 
temporary settlements in Iowa, of an army recruiting officer. 
Captain James Allen, who issued a circular, stating the author- 
ity under which he acted, and making known the wishes of 
General Kearney regarding the troops to be raised. Having 
been referred to headquarters at Council Blufifs, he at once pro- 
ceeded to that point, to confer with President Brigham Young 
and his associates. 

Captain Allen's "Circular to the Mormons" read as fol- 
lows : 

"I have come anioiifi: you, instructed by Col. S. F. Kearney, of the 
U. S. Army, now commanding the Army of the West, to visit the 



""'Upper California" was the specific name of the region to which 
the Latter-day Saints were migrating. By that title it bcoame the 
theme of a well known ".Mormon" hymn, sung on both sides of tlic 
Atlantic during the peri<ul of the early settlement of the Great Basin. 



22 WHITNEY'S POI'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Mormon Caini), and to accept the services for twelve nu)nths of four 
or five conii)anies of ]\Iormon men who may be willing to serve their 
country' fnr that period in our present war with Mexico; this force to 
unite with the Army of the West at Santa Fe, and he marched thence 
to California, where they will he discharged. 

"They will receive pay and rations, and (jthcr allowances, such 
as other volunteers or regular soldiers receive, from the day they shall 
he mustered into service, and will he entitled to all comforts and ben- 
efits of regular soldiers of the Army, and when discharged, as con- 
templated, at California, the}' will be given gratis their arms and 
accoutrements, with \vhich they will be fully equipped at Fort Leav- 
enworth. This is ofifered to the Mormon people now — this year — an 
opportunity of sending a portion of their young and intelligent men 
to the ultimate destination of their wlu)]e people, and entirely at the 
expense of the United States, and this advance party can thus pave 
the way and look out the land for their brethren to come after them. 

"Those of the INIormons who are desirous of serving their country 
on the conditions here enumerated, are requested to meet me without 
dela}' at their principal camp at the Council BIufTs, whither T am .going 
to consult with their prfncipal men. and to recci\-e and organize the 
f(irce contemplated to be raised. 

"T will receive all healthy, able-bodied men of from eighte i to 
forty-five years of age. 

"J. Allen, Captain 1st Dragoons. 

"Camp of the ]\!ormons. at Mount Pisgah, one hundred and thirty- 
eight miles east of Council Rlufi's, June 26th, 1846." 

Sttcli was the origin of the call for the Mormon Battalion 
— five luindred able-bodied men, in assist the United States in 
its war with Mexico. Coming at such a time, and embodying 
a pro])osition so diiTerent from the one submitted by Agent 
T.ittle at A\' ashington, it created at first some consternation. A 
force of teamsters, with wagons, to freight stores and supplies, 
was one thing; a battalion of five htmdred fighting men. quite 
another. Tn the midst of an exodus rife with dangers and hard- 
shi|)s, the ser\iccs df that number of men cotild ill be spared. 

Ready to March — A Farewell Ball. — There was no hes- 
itation. "You shall have your battalion, Captain Allen," said 
President Young, "and if there are not young men enough, we 
will take the old men ; and if they are not enough, we will take 
the w(Mnen ;" a touch of grim humor tempering the sternness 
of his resolve. Colonel Thomas L. Kane. U. S. A., who came 
with Agent Little to the Blufifs. summarized the incident thus : 
"A central mass meeting for council, some harangues at the 
more remotely scattered camps, an American flag brought out 
from the storehouse of things rescued, and hoisted to the top 
of a tree-mast, and in three days the force was reported, mus- 
tered, organized, and rcafl}- to march." 

The date of enlistment was the sixteenth of July, h^ive 
htmdred and forty-nine ])ersons. including several families of 
women and children who went with their husbands and fath- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY PILGRIMS. 23 

ers, composed the Battalion. The five companies were com- 
manded respectively by Captains Jefferson Hunt, Jesse D. 
Hunter, James Brown, Nelson Hig^ins. and Daniel C. Davis. 
A farewell ball in "Father Taylor's Bowery," an expansive 
arbor of poles and brush, where, to the music of violin, horn, 
triangle, bells and tambourine, "the glowing hours" of a mid- 
summer afternoon were merrily chased and consumed, was 
followed 1)\- the iiiexitable sadness of parting. 

Why Men Were Scarce. — A word here in explanation nt' 
the scarcity of able-bodied men in the "Mormon" cam])s. In 
the first place, not all the fugiti\es from Illinois had made or 
were making their wa}- to the Iowa frontier. Many had gone 
to St. Louis, which city became almost a gathering place for 
the scattered people, an outfitting point for much of their over- 
land emigration. In the next place, many heads of families, 
after starting for the frontier, had been ccnnpelled to leave 
their wives and children in tents and wagons on the prairie, 
while they went into Missouri to get work and win bread for 
those dependent u])on them. Moreoxcr. hundreds of the fu- 
gitives were aged, ill or infirm, and had to be cared for by the 
healthy and strong. In some instances, delicate women and 
children of tender years had been driving team and tending 
stock, owing to the limited number of men available. 

An Obsolete View. —The extreme \ie\v that the call for 
this Battalion was a hustile mo\e on the part of the deneral 
Government, haxing as its object the weakening of the "Mor- 
mon" community, and its probal)le dispersion or destruction 
by Indians beyond the frontier, finds few if any supporters at 
the present time. Iliat the mob leaders of Missouri and Illi- 
nois desired the destruction of the Latter-day Saints was evi- 
dent from their acts; and that some of the national leaders 
were influenced b}- such characters, is equally undeniable; but 
it is not belie\-ed that the LInited States was a part}' to an_\- 
conspiracy of that kind. A nation, state, or community should 
not be held responsible for the misdeeds or evil designs of indi- 
viduals miless it directs or sanctions them. 

A March Without Parallel. — The Battalion was equip- 
ped at Fort Leavenworth. While it tarried at the frontier post, 
its recruiting officer and commander, Captain Allen, who had 
endeared himself to every member of the force, fell sick and 
died. Lieutenant A. J. Smith succeeded to the command, and 
marched the Battalion as far as Santa Fe, which town had 
previously surrendered to General Kearney. Thereby the Gen- 
eral's order. Colonel Philip .St. George Cooke, a regular army 
officer, was placed at the head of the"Morm()n" volunteers, who 
then began their arduous march across the dreary plains and 

into Southern California. 



24 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Their route was by way of the Rio Grande, the Gila, the Col- 
orado and the San Pedro. From the Missouri to the Pacific, 
they tramped a distance of over two thousand miles, pioneer- 
ing- much of the way through an unknown wilderness. Colonel 
Cooke said of this achievement: "History may be searched in 
vain for an equal march of infantry." Short rations, lack of 
water, with excessive toil in road making-, well-digging, and 
over-marching, caused much suffering, some sickness, and sev- 
eral deaths in the Battalion. Even before reaching Santa Fe 
many were disabled and prevented from going farther. These 
invalid detachments-^less than one hundred men, with most 
of the women and all the children — were put in charge of Cap- 
tains Brown and Higgins and ordered to Pueblo, now in Col- 
orado. The main body, including four or five women who ac- 
companied their husbands, pushed on to the Pacific Coast, 
arriving near San Diego late in January, 1847. 

Conquest of California. — General Kearney, by a more 
direct route, had reached California some time earlier, though 
with only a few men, having disbanded most of his force upon 
learning that the province was already in possession of the 
United States. Colonel John C. Fremont, who was exploring 
west of the Sierra Nevada when the war broke out, had rallied 
the American settlers of Sacramento Valley, and in co-opera- 
tion with Commodores Sloat, Montgomery, and Stockton, all 
but sul dued the country before Kearney came. 

Services of the Battalion — 
Discharge and Re-enlistment. — 

Cooke's command had driven 
out the Mexican garrison of 
Tucson, but it had no other op- 
portunity to engage the enemy. 
Its most exciting experience 
was a "battle with the bulls" 
on the San Pedro River, where 
the volunteers were attacked 
by an army of wild cattle, and 
narrowly escaped dispersion if 
not destruction, from the fierce 
horns and hoofs of the innu- 
merable horde. 

Fort-building and garrison 
service were the principal oc- 
cupations of the Battalion men 
(luring their remaining months 
of service. They were quar- 
COLONEL COOKE. tcrcd at San Diego, San Luis 




NINETEENTH CENTURY PILGRIMS. 25 

del Rey, and Los Angeles, and performed their duties in such 
a manner as to call forth the commendation of the United 
States officers, and at the same time to win the good will of the 
conquered Californians. While in garrison they were permit- 
ted to accept outside employment, offered them by civilians in 
the towns where they were stationed. They made and burnt 
the first bricks in San Diego, and probably in all California. A 
squad of them served as General Kearney's escort when, in 
May, he set out for Washington, accompanied by Colonel Fre- 
mont, the latter charged with insubordination for refusing to 
recognize the General's authority. 

In July, at the expiration of their year's term of enlist- 
ment, the Battalion was honorably discharged at Los Angeles. 
There, at the urgent request of Governor R. B. Mason, Kear- 
ney's successor as military commandant, eighty-one men re- 
enlisted, and were ordered back to garrison San Diego.* Their 
comrades set out to rejoin their families or friends, whom they 
had left upon the far away frontier. 

The Brannan Colony. — Mention must be made of the part 
played by the Brannan colony in California. They came from 
New York by sea around Cape Horn to the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco, and were the first "Mormons" to set foot on the Pacific 
Coast. This was in 1846. They numbered two hundred and 
thirty-five men, women, and children, and were under the lead- 
ership of Samuel Brannan, who in New York had edited a 
paper called "The Prophet," published in the interest of the 
Latter-day Saints. The company was well supplied with farm- 
ing implements, mechanics' tools, and all the equipment neces- 
sary for the founding of a new settlement. The ship "Brook- 
lyn," upon which they sailed, left New York early in February, 



*Governor Mason, in his report to the Adjutant General, Septem- 
ber 18, 1847, said: "Of the services of the Battalion, of their patience, 
subordination, and general good conduct, you have already heard; and 
I take great pleasure in adding that as a body of men they have relig- 
iously respected tlie rights and feelings of this conquered people; not 
a syllable of complaint has reached my ear of a single insult offered or 
outrage done by a Mormon volunteer. So high an opinion did I enter- 
tain of the Battalion, and of their special fitness for the duties now 
performed by the garrisons in this country, that I made strenuous 
efforts to engage their services for another year." 

Henry G. Boyle, one of the volunteers, gives to history tlie follow- 
ing item of information: "I think I white-washed all San Diego. We 
did their blacksmithing, put up a bakery, made and repaired carts, and, 
in fine, did all we could to benefit ourselves as well as the citizens. 
We never had any trouble with the Californians or Indians, nor they 
with us. The citizens became so attached to us, that before our term 
of service expired they got up a petition to the Governor to use his 
influence to keep us in the service. The petition was signed by every 
citizen in the town." 



26 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

and landed at Yerba Buena (San Francisco) on the last day 
of July.* 

On the San Joaquin River, the Brannan colony plowed, 
put in crops, and built houses of adobe or sun-dried brick. In 
one of these they set up a printing press, which they had 
brought with them, and issued "The California Star." the sec- 
ond newspaper established in the province. 

The Benson Scheme. — Samuel Brannan was a man of en- 
ergy and ability, but of pronounced speculative tendencies. 
Before leaving New York he had entered into a compact with 
one A. G. Benson, representing certain political and financial 
schemers at Washington. D. C. who, aware of the pending 
exodus, proposed to profit by it. This compact, which Brannan 
sent to Nauvoo for signatures, recjuired the "Mormon" leaders 
to transfer to A. G. Benson and Company and to their heirs 
and assigns, the odd numbers of all the lands and town lots 
that might be acquired in the country settled by them and their 
people. If they refused to sign, the President of the United 
States, it was threatened, would proclaim that it was their in- 
tention to join with Great Britain or Mexico against this Na- 
tion, and would send troops to disarm and disperse them. If 
they signed they were to be protected and allowed to proceed 
on their way. Such was the substance of Brannan's letter to 
Brigham Young, enclosing a copy of this precious agreement. 

Appropriate Action. — President Young and his associates 
considered the matter at a council held on Sugar Creek, Iowa, 
soon after lea\ing Nauvoo. They resolved to treat the propo- 
sition with the contempt that it inspired. To A. G. Benson and 
Company not even an answer was deigned. ( )n went the exiles 
to the Iowa frontier, and the next news from them related to 
the enlistment of the Battalion, whose storv has been brieflv 
told. 



*Fi-om the East to the Pacific Coast there were three routes of 
travel, two of them by sea. One doubled Cape Horn, one crossed the 
Isthmus of Panama, and tlie tliird was from the frontier over tlic 
plains. 



IV. 
THE PIONEERS. 

1847. 

A Predicted Exodus. — The removal ol the Latter-dav 
Saints to the West had been contemplated by President josepji 
Smith several years before his tragic death at Carthage, lie 
had even organized an expedition to explore the Rock\- Moun- 
tains, and had indicated in a 
general way the place where 
his people were to settle. Had 
he lived, he probably would 
have led them to the land that 
they now inhabit. The project 
fell as a legacy to his succes- 
sor, Brigli.am Young, and the 
men surrounding him.* 

Preparations for Departure. 
— Prior to their departure from 
Illinois the "Mormon" lead- 
ers had made themselves ac- 
quainted, as far as possible, 
with the western cotmtry. 
through reading books and ex- 
amining maps published by ex- 
plorers and other travelers in 
this region. Heber C. Kimball, 
one of the Apostles of the 
Chtirch. and familiarly known 
as "Brigham Young's right- 
hand man." mentions this cir- 
cumstance in his private journal. y 

The Pioneer Project. — At Mount Pisgah. soon after the 
beginning of the exodus. President Young called a council at 
which, as related bv Orson Pratt, it was determined to send a 




i;ki(;ii.\.\[ young. 



*At Montrose, Iowa, on the 6th of .\ngust, 1S42, Josepli Smith pre- 
dicted that the Latter-day Saints would he driven westward, and would 
found settlements and "become a miglit\' people in the_ midst of the 
Rocky Afomitains." — History of tlic Church, Vol. 5. pp. 85. 86. 

tit is thus recorded: "Nauvoo Tem])le, December 31st. 1845: Pres- 
i(Kiit \nnn,n- and myself are >uperintcndinj? tlie operations of the day. 
f.xaniininK niapN with reference to selectinjir a location for the Saints, 
west of the Rocky .Mountains, and reading the various works whicli 
have been written'and pul)lished by travelers in those regions." 



28 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

select company of pioneers, in advance of the main body of 
the people, across the Great Plains. They would have been 
sent that season, but the enlistment of the Battalion, with its 
heavy draft upon the able-bodied element in the camps, caused 
a postponement of the project until the following spring. 

Winter Quarters. — After the Battalion had gone, the head- 
quarters of the migrating people were moved from Council 
Bluffs to the west side of the Missouri, so as not to trespass 
upon the Indian Reservation east of that river. By permission 
of the Omaha Indians, the Latter-day Saints built a settlement 
named Winter Quarters, on the site of the present town of 
Florence, Nebraska. In that primitive frontier village, and on 
the prairies of Iowa, in log and mud huts, in tents and in wag- 
ons, the exiled community passed the winter of 1846-1847.* 

Prospective Emigration — The Advance Company. — As 

spring opened, all was bustle and stir at the camps east and 
west of the great river which was then the border line of the 
nation. In January President Young had issvted instructions 
concerning the formation, equipment, and conduct of the sev- 
eral companies that were to journey westward. About the be- 
ginning of April he completed the organization of the advance 
company — the Pioneers — whom he proposed leading in person 
to the Rocky Mountains. 

The Pioneer company, though comparatively small, was a 
model for all succeeding ones. They were divided into "hun- 
dreds," the hundreds into "fifties," and the fifties into "tens," 
with a captain over each division. The male adult enrollment 
of the Pioneers was originally twelve times twelve, but one 
man became disabled after the journey began, and returned, 
leaving the number at one hundred and forty-three. Three of 
these were negroes, and at least two were non-Mormons. 



*Among those who visited Winter Quarters while the "Mormon" 
people were there, was Father De Smet, a Jesuit missionary among 
the Indians. In a letter dated March, 1851. he says: "In the fall of 
1846, as I drew near the frontiers of the State of Missouri, I found 
the advance guard of the 'Mormons,' numbering about ten thousand, 
camped on the Territory of the Omaha, not far from the old Council 
Bluffs. They had just been driven out for the second time from a State 
of the Union (Illinois had received them after their war with the peo- 
ple of Missouri). They had resolved to winter on the threshold of the 
great desert, and then to move onward into it, to put distance between 
them and their persecutors, without even knowing at that time the end 
of their long wanderings, nor the place where they should once more 
erect for themselves permanent dwellings. They asked me a thousand 
c|uestions about the regions I had explored. * " * The valley (Salt 
Lake), which I have just described to you, pleased them greatly from 
the account I gave them of it." 



THE PIONEERS. 



29 



Three women were added as nurses, and two children went 
with their parents.* 

Equipment and Discipline. — The census of the Pioneer 
camp gave the following additional items : Seventy-two wag- 
ons, ninety-three horses, fifty-two mules, sixty-six oxen, nine- 
teen cows, seventeen dogs, and some chickens. The wagons 
were drawn by horses, mules and oxen. Mounted men were 
few. The Pioneers, like the emigrants who followed them, 
walked most of the way from the Missouri River to the Great 
Salt Lake, a distance of more than a thousand miles. 




They were well armed, and as fully equipped as might be 
in those days of general privation. The men carried rifles and 
small weapons, and a cannon was taken along to overawe hos- 
tile Indians. In their covered wagons were plows and other 
implements, seed grain, and a year's supply of provisions. They 
also had a case of surveyor's instruments, afterwards used in 
laying out Salt Lake City. One of the men invented an 
odometer,t to measure the distance traveled. Farmers, build- 



*The three women were Harriet Page Wheeler Young, wife of 
Lorenzo D. Young; Clara Decker Young, wife of Brigham Young; and 
Ellen Sanders Kimball, wife of Heber C. Kimball. The two children 
were Isaac Perry Decker and Lorenzo S. Young. 

tThe Pioneers called it a "road-om-eter." The first one — for there 
were two — was a crude affair, though ingenious. An old steel saw was 
made to project from a wagon box in such a way as to strike at every 
turn a nail driven into a spoke of one of the wheels. The circurnfer- 
ence of the wheel, multiplied by the number of strikes or revolutions, 
registered the distance. The more perfect machine was invented by 
William Clayton and constri'nted by Appleton M. Harmon. 



30 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

ers, mechanics and laborers were included in the organization. 
Like Caesar's legions in Gaul and Britain, these conquerors of 
the desert went prepared, not only to fight if necessary, but to 
make roads, build bridges, erect houses, till the soil, and do 
everything else needed in the exploration and settlement of a 
new country. 

Moreo^•er. they had a military organization. Brigham 
Young was their general; Jesse C. Little, adjutant; Stephen 
Markham. cc^lonel ; John Pack and Shadrach Roundy, majors; 
and Thomas Tanner, captain of artillery. Stephen Markham 
and Albert P. Rockwood were captains of hundreds ; and Ad- 
dison Everett, Tarlton Lewis, and James Case, captains of 
fifties. The captains of tens were Wilford Woodrufif, Ezra T. 
Benson, Phineas H. Young, Luke S. Johnson, Stephen H. God- 
dard, Charles Shumway. James Case, Seth Taft, Howard Egan, 
Appleton M. Harmon. John S. Higbee, Norton Jacobs, John 
Browai. and Joseph Matthews. Thomas Bullock was clerk, 
and there were also historians, such as W^ilford Woodrufif. 
Orson Pratt. AVillard Richards. Horace K. Whitney, and Wil- 
liam Clayton, who recorded in daih- journals the experiences 
of the Camp. 

The men were instructed to tra\'el in compact form, each 
with loaded gun in hand or in wagon, readv for instant use. 
Night and morning, at the sound of the bugle, all were to as- 
semble for prayers. The Sabbath was to be kept, and divine 
service held regularly. Honesty and sobriety were strictly en- 
joined, and profanity and extreme levity discountenanced. The 
Pioneers were not to kill game except for food, nor trespass in 
any manner upon the rights of the red men whose countr}' thev 
were about to enter. 

The Pioneer Journey — Route and Method of Travel. — 
About the .middle of April, a start was made for the Rocky 
Mountains. Most travelers to the West passed up the south 
bank of the Platte River. The Pioneers chose the north bank 
and broke a new^ road, one subsequently traveled by tens of 
thousands of Latter-day Saints. It ]:)ecame known as "The 
Old Mormon Trail." Much of it is now covered by the road- 
bed of the Union Pacific Railway. 

The regular order of march was for each "ten" to take its 
turn in the lead. Streams too deep to ford were crossed in a 
leather boat, which served as a wagon box while traveling. 
Rafts were also used, made from cottonwood trees growing 
along the banks. Some of the streams were only about two 
feet deep, but at the bottom were beds of quicksand, dangerous 
to teams, and almost pulling a wagon to pieces. 

The country traversed, though monotonous, was pleasing 



THE PIONEERS. 31 

to the eye. Before. l)ehiiKl, and on either side, a vast level 
])rairie. limited on the right In- a continuous range of majestic 
bluffs, and on the left by the muddy waters of the Platte, roll- 
ing ceaselessly over beds of quicksand ; the river often hid from 
view by the many beautiful cottonwood groves fringing its 
sandy shores. Everywhere the soil was of this texture, prom- 
ising little at that time to agriculture. 

Indian Tactics — Stampede and Corral. — As a rule the In- 
dians — mostly Pawnees and Sioux — were friendly, though 
some of them set fire to the prairie, burning the grass needed 
by these travelers as feed for their animals. The red men also 
ran off horses belonging to the company. More than once thev 
tried to stampede the stock. As a means of protection at night, 
the wagons were formed into a "corral," according to the cus- 
tom of the plains. This was done by arranging them in a 
circle or an o\'al. with the tongues outside ; a f(^re wheel of each 
wagon locked in a hind wheel of the one ahead. The stock 
were kept inside the enclosure, an opening at either end being 
carefully guarded.* 

Pawnees and Sioux. — The Pawnees swarmed around in 
large numbers, but their manner was not hostile, their moti\-e 
being mercenar}'. Presenting certificates signed by various 

*A good idea of a stampede is given in tlie following bit of de- 
scription, written by one of the early emigrants to Salt Lake Valley: 
"At a very early hour some one was carelessly shaking a big buffalo 
robe at the back of a wagon, when a number of the cattle in the corral 
took fright and started to run; these frightened others; they began to 
bellow and all in a huddle ran for the gateway of the enclosure. This 
being too narrow for the rushing multitude that thronged into the pas- 
sage, they piled themselves one upon another, until those on top were 
above the tops of the adjacent wagons, jarring and moving them from 
their places. The inmates, suddenly roused from sleep, and not know- 
ing the cause of the terrible uproar and confusion, were almost par- 
alj'/.ed with fear. At length some of the cattle broke from the enclos- 
ure, the bellowing subsided, and quiet was restored; but the fright 
caused considerable suffering to those whose nerves were not equal to 
the strain. In the stampede two wagon wheels were crushed, several 
:ixen had horns knocked off. and one cow was killed." 

This stampede resulted from an accident; but the Iudian> resorted 
to just such tricks as shaking buffalo robes or blankets, to frighten 
the horses and cattle of passing trains. They would follow them for 
hundreds of miles, warih- concealing themselves and awaiting opportu- 
nity to effect their design. Dark and rainy nights were their delight. 
Creeping like snakes through the long, dank grass, and eluding the eyes 
and ears of the guard, they would cut the lariats of the horses, if staked 
outside, and scare and scatter them in all directions. Sometimes they 
frightened them by shaking pieces of dry rawhide, which rattled omin- 
ously, and by hissing in imitation of a rattlesnake. When the trains 
had passed, if pass they could after losing much of their stock, these 
cunning prowlers of the plains would hunt anrl capture the missing ani- 
mals at leisure. 



32 WHITNEY'S TOPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

travelers, to the effect that these Indians were friendly, and 
that it was customary to give them small presents for the priv- 
ilege of passing through their country, they intimated that 
gifts from this company would be acceptable' A few articles, 
such as powder, lead, salt and flour were bestowed, and with 
these the red men departed. 

Near Chimney Rock a band of mounted Sioux forded the 
river and made friendly advances. These Indians were much 
better accoutred than those nearer the frontier. Many of them 
wore "broadcloth," with fur caps, profusely decorated with 
beads and other ornaments. They had bows, steel-pointed ar- 
rows, and firearms, and carried an American flag, with a rec- 
ommendation, written in French, from an agent of the Ameri- 
can Fur Company. The Pioneers granted the request of the 
chief to remain with them over night, and spread a tent for his 
accommodation. They also fed him and his band, thirty-five 
in number, that night and the next morning. 

Hunting the Bison — Primitive Mail Boxes. — At Grand 
Island the prairie was alive with herds of bison, commonly 
called buft'alo. The Pioneers indulged in a hunt, twelve men 
on horseback, with twelve on foot, being assigned the duty of 
providing meat for the company. Most of them had never seen 
a bison before, and some were simple enough to try to kill one 
by shooting him in the forehead, where the hair and skull were 
so thick that the bullets rebounded without having made the 
least impression.* Ten of the animals, pierced in more vul- 
nerable spots, were killed and the meat distributed. Game con- 
tinued plentiful, the hunters supplying the camp with buffalo, 
deer, antelope, geese and ducks, whenever necessary. A griz- 
zly bear and her cubs also became trophies of their skill. As 
they approached the Mountains, fine trout began to be taken 
from the streams. 

*President Joseph F. Smith relates a similar incident that came 
under his personal observation, when, as a boy of ten years, he crossed 
the plains, coming to Salt Lake Valley. While the company in which 
he traveled was encamped on the North Platte, an old bison, driven 
out of his native herd by the younger male members, strayed down to 
the river to- drink. Fired upon by hunters in ambush, he plunged 
furiously into the stream, where after receiving another broadside, he 
whirled about and returned to the bank. A third volley brought him 
to his knees in a dying condition, all the bullets having entered his 
body. The captain of the company came up to give the coup de grace, 
which he supposed could be done by discharging the contents of his 
Yauger rifle full at the animal's forehead. The shot struck, but the 
bison did not bat an eye. After he was dead the slugs from the Yauger 
were found in a coarse mat of hair covering the front of the skull, not 
having touched the bone. The hide there was an inch thick. A fa- 
vorite Indian method of killing buffalo was to ride alongside and strike 
one with an arrow in the lower part of the spine, thus paralyzing the 
beast. 



THE I'lONEERS. 33 

Now and then the l)leached skull of a bison, a hollow tree, 
or a sheltering- rock at the rtiadside, served as a mail box, in 
which to deposit letters for friends who were following;. One 
day a Erench trader, returning to the frontier with furs from 
Fort Earamie, visited the camp, fording the Platte for that pur- 
pose, but leaving his wagons on the south bank. He gave the 
name of Charles Beaumont, and courteously undertook to dc- 
li^'er at \\^inter Quarters any messages entrusted to his care. 

Crossing the Platte. — At Fort Earamie the river was 
crossed on a ferry Ijoat, hired from a Frenchman in charge of 
the post. For this accommodation the Pioneers paid fifteen 
dollars. The fort was then a station of the i\nierican Fur Com- 
pany, whose agent, James Bordeaux, received President Young 
and his party very politely, and gave them considerable infor- 
mation regarding the route ahead. The Crow Indians were 
troublesome, he said, having lately run oiT all his horses and 
mules. The south side of the river was now chosen, owing to 
a report that the north side was no longer practicable. 

Mississippi Emigrants. — While at Earamie, the Pioneer: 
were joined by seventeen emigrants from Mississippi, part of a 
small company of Eatter-day Saints who had wintered at Pu- 
eblo. At that place, it will be remembered, a detachment of 
the Mormon Battalion, under Captains Brown and Eliggins, 
had been quartered. Four of the Pioneers, Amasa M. Eyman, 
Thomas AVoolsey, John H. Tippitts, and Roswell Stevens, 
were sent horseback to Pueblo, to take charge of the main 
body of the Mississippians and conduct them to Salt Eake Val- 
ley. All but three of the seventeen emigrants were members 
of the Crow and Therlkill families, the others being Archibald 
Eittle, James Chesney, and Eewis B. Myers. 

A Ferry Established — Missourians for Oregon. — In the 

region of the Black Flills the Pioneers built rafts and con- 
structed a ferry, helping over the river at that point several 
companies of Missourians, boimd for Oregon. They received 
for this service a dollar and a half for each wagon and load, 
and were paid in flour, meal, and bacon, at eastern prices. Nine 
men were detailed to maintain the ferry for the benefit of the 
coming emigration. They were Thomas Grover, John S. Hig- 
l)ee, Euke S. Johnson, Appleton M. Harmon, Edmund Ells- 
worth, Francis M. Pomeroy, William Empey, James Daven- 
port, and Benjamin F. Stewart. The main company, fording 
the Sweetwater, found good grass along that stream, but had 
to beware of the poisonous alkali water lying about in pools. 
Drinking of these waters killed many horses and cattle of suc- 
ceeding companies. While resting on the Sabbath, the Pio- 
neers were continuallv overtaken and passed by west-bound 



34 W'lllTNKVS POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

emiorants. More than once they met wagons from Fort 
Bridger, laden with furs for Fort Laramie. 

Over "The Great Divide."— Late in June they reached 
South Pass, and began the western descent of the Rockies. In 
that vicinity they encountered Major Moses Harris, scout and 
trapper, who was guiding a company of emigrants to Oregon ; 
also Thomas L. Smith, a mountaineer living near Soda 
Springs. Major Harris, learning that the Pioneers were bound 
for Great Salt Lake Valley, gave a discouraging report of this 
region, but spoke favorably of Cache Valley — so named be- 
cause hunters and trappers "cached" their furs and effects 
there. Harris had a file of Oregon papers, also several copies 
of "The California Star," the journal published by Samuel 
Brannan at Yerba Buena. 

Brigham Young and Colonel Bridger. — East of Little 
Sandy the California and Oregon roads diverged. After, pass- 
ing that stream the Pioneers made the acquaintance of Colonel 
Bridger, builder and part proprietor of the fort bearing his 
name. He camped with them on the night of the twentieth 
of June. They found him an erratic though interesting char- 
acter, full of information and a desire to impart it. In conver- 
sation with President Young, Colonel Bridger expressed the 
opinion that it would be unwise to bring a large colony into 
the Great Basin until it had been demonstrated that grain 
could be raised here. He declared that he would give a thou- 
sand dollars if he knew an ear of corn could ripen in Salt Lake 
Valley. How much of this advice was philanthropic, and what 
part of it the result of a fear that a settlement in the Valley 
would injure the trapping industry, is problematical at the 
present time. 

Brannan from the Coast. — Just before the Pioneers crossed 
Green River, Samuel Brannan rode into camp, having come di- 
rectly from the Bay of San Francisco. He, with two companions, 
had crossed the Sierra Nevada at Truckee Pass. Brannan's pur- 
pose in coming was to persuade President Young to pass by the 
barren, forbidding region of the Great Salt Lake, and join him 
and his colony on the fertile slopes of the Pacific. He brought 
with him sixteen numbers of "The California Star," and the lat- 
est news from the Battalion. He used every endeavor to con- 
vince the President that it would be to the advantage of the 
Latter-day Saints to establish themselves on the western 
coast; but in this he was unsuccessful. The prospect painted 
by his eloquence, though it had some pleasing features, was 
not alluring to the sagacious leader, who had seen his people 
despoiled and driven repeatedly, through sheer inability to 
hold their own against overwhelming odds hostile to, and ar- 
rayed against them. Until they became strong enough, not 



THE PIONEERS. 35 

only ill numbers but in influence, to defend themselves against 
such aggressions, it was better for them to seek isolation and 
brave the hardships and dangers of the desert. 

Green River, rapid and sw^ollen, was crossed with rafts. 
The 4th of July falling on Sunday, the Pioneers sacredly ob- 
served the glorious anniversary. Three days later they ar- 
rived at Fort Bridger. 

Fort Bridger. — This famous trading station was little 
more than a double log house, surrounded by posts set upright 
in the ground, forming a stockade about eight feet high. The 
fort was built upon one of several small islands, created by 
various branches of Black's Fork, a tributary of Green River. 
It was the abode of a score or more of human beings, white 
men, Indian women, and half-breed children. In the neighbor- 
hood were nine Indian lodges, where dwelt the families of 
other mountaineers who had also taken squaws for wives. Cer- 
tain lands in the vicinity were held by Bridger and his partner, 
Mr. Vasquez, under a grant from the Government of Mexico. 

President Young 111 — Pratt's Vanguard. — The Pioneers, 
having shod their horses and repaired their wagons, prepara- 
tory to the rough mountainous journey before them, left Fort 
Bridger on the ninth of July. At noon of the twelfth, Presi- 
dent Young took mountain fever, which had first attacked the 
camp on Green River. Falling behind with a few wagons, he 
requested the main body to move on. 

Next day Orson Pratt was directed by the President to 
take wagons and men and proceed down Echo Canyon, at the 
mouth of which he was to look for the Reed-Donner trail and 
follow it over the mountains into Salt Lake Valley. The We- 
ber Canyon route had been reported impassable, owing to high 
water. 

Pratt's vanguard found and pursued the trail ; a dozen 
men, with spades and axes, going before the wagons, smooth- 
ing or constructing the way. In traveling eight miles up East 
Canyon, they crossed its crooked, willow-fringed torrent thir- 
teen times. Huge gray wolves, startled out of their lairs, 
glared fiercely at them and sullenly retired up neighboring 
glens and ravines. The deadly rattlesnake — policeman among 
reptiles — sounded its warning, as if summoning assistance to 
arrest the progress of these daring and dangerous human in- 
truders. Here and there the fresh track of a buffalo appeared ; 
the brush at the roadside, against which the brute had rubbed 
in passing, retaining some of its hair. 

First Glimpse of "The Valley"— Word from the Rear.— 
Leaving East Canyon, the trail turned up a ravine to the west, 
and crossed another ridge or summit — Big Mountain. Hith- 
erto a continuous succession of hills on hills had greeted the 



36 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

tired vision of the toiling vanguard, pushing through these 
mountain fastnesses. But now a broader view was obtained: 
glimpses of the open country appeared. To the southwest, 
through a sloping vista, two small sections of Salt Lake Valley 
were visible. The Laki was as yet unseen, but beyond, in the 
blue distance, loomed Tie Oquirrh range and the shadowy par- 
allel of a still more rer.ote line of hills. It was on the 19th of 
July, from the crest of Big Mountain, that Orson Pratt and 
John Brown, riding ah £ad of their company, caught the first 
glimpse of the Valley tif the Great Salt Lake. Descending a 
steep and dangerous sJide, where wheels had to be double- 
locked, the trail rose abruptly over another high hill — Little 
Mountain — whence it descended into Emigration Canyon. On 
the twenty-first, one mile below Little Alountain, the van- 
guard was overtaken by a messenger from the rear. This mes- 
senger. Erastus Snow, stated that President Young desired 
those who were leading the way to bear to the northward and 
stop at the first convenient place for plowing and planting. 

In the afternoon of that day Orson Pratt and Erastus 
Snow preceded the compan}- down the canyon, the mouth of 
which they found choked with boulders, timber and brush. 
Crossing to the south side of the creek, the two Pioneers as- 
cended a hill, and saw for the first time the broad, open V^alley, 
belted with snow-capped peaks, and the blue waters of the 
Lake flashing in the sunlight. A shout of rapture broke from 
their lips, and they descended to the benchland below. 

"The Right Place." — President Young, reclining in a light 
carriage driven by Wilford Woodrufif, crossed Big Mountain 
on the twenty-third of July. Halting on the summit, he gazed 
long and earnestly at those parts of Salt Lake Valley that are 
visible from that eminence. Next day his wagons rolled 
through the mouth of Emigration Canyon, and the founder of 
Utah was upon the scene of his future toils. "It is the right 
•^lace," he is reputed to have said. 3.s his soul drank in the 
".''•jspect. 



V. 



THE SHORES OF THE INLAND SEA 

IS'47. 

As Seen by the Pioneers. — It was no (jurdcn uf the Iles- 
perides upon which the Pioneers ^azed that memorable July 
morning. Aside from its scenic splendor, which was indeed 
g-lorious, ma.q-nificent, there was little to invite, and much to 
repel, in the prospect presented to their view. A barren plain, 
hemmed in liy mountains, burnino- beneath the rays of the mid- 

summer sun. 
No waving 
fields or for- 
ests, no ver- 
dant meadows 
to rest and re- 
fresh the 
weary eye, but 
on all sides a 
seemingly in- 
terminable 
waste of sage- 
brush, bespan- 
gled with sun- 
flowers, the 
paradise of the lizard, the cricket, and the rattlesnake. 

Less than half way across the baked and burning valley, 
dividing it in twain, as if the vast bowl, in the intense heat of 
the Master Potter's fires, in process of formation had cracked 
asunder, a narrow river, turbid and shallow, from south to 
north, in many a serpentine curve, sweeps on its sinuous way. 
Beyond, a broad lake, the river's goal, dotted with towering 
islands, its briny waters shimmering in the sunbeams. 

From mountains snow-capped, seamed and cragg}'. lifting 
their kingly heads to be crowned by the golden sun. flow 
limpid, laughing streams, cold and crystal clear, lea])ing, dash- 
ing, foaming, flashing from rock to glen, from peak to plain. 
But the fresh canyon brooks are far and few, and the arid 
waste they water, glistening with beds of salt and soda and pools 
of deadly alkali, scarcely allows them to reach the river, but mid- 
way well nigh swallows and absorbs them in its thirsty sands. 
Above the line of gray and gold, of sage and sunflower, the 
sloping hillsides and ])recipit(ius steeps are clothed with purple 
and dark green i)atches; these, the oak-bush, the scjuaw-berry, 




SALT LAKE \ALLEV IN 1847 



38 WHITNF.Y'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



and other scant growths, with here and there a solitary tree, a 
few acres of withered bunch grass, and the lazily waving wil- 
lows and wild-rose bushes fringing the distant streams, the 
only green things visible. 

Silence and desolation- — a silence unbroken save by the 
cricket's ceaseless chirp, the dull roar of the tumbling torrent, 
or the whirr and twitter of the passing bird ; a desolation of 
centuries, where earth seems heaven-forsaken, where hermit 
Nature, watching, waiting, weeps, and worships God amid 
eternal solitudes. 

Origin of Pioneer Day. — It was Saturday, July 24th, when 
Brigham Young entered Salt Lake Valley, giving to an already 
illustrious month another notable anniversary, thenceforth to 
be celebrated as Pioneer Day by the founders of Utah and their 
descendants. Wilford Woodruff, who halted with the Pres- 
ident upon the foot-hills a little south of where Fort Douglas 
now stands, says in his journal : "President Young expressed 
his entire satisfaction at the appearance of the Valley, * * * 
and felt amply repaid for his journey. * * * After gazing 
a while * * * -y^g moved four miles across the tableland 
into the valley, to the encampment of our brethren who had 
arrived two days before us. They had pitched upon the banks 
of two small streams of pure water, and had commenced plow- 
ing. On our arrival they had 
already broken five acres of 
land, and had begun to plant 
potatoes in the Valley of the 
Great Salt Lake." 

First Upon the Ground. 

— Orson Pratt and Erastus 
Snow had entered the Valley 
three days before. Upon 
emerging from Emigration 
Canyon, they had first di- 
rected their course south- 
ward, where tall canes along 
the banks of Mill Creek 
"looked like inviting grain." 
Disappointed by the illusion, 
and remembering President 
Young's advice to "bear to 
the northward," they next 
turned in that direction. It 
is claimed for Orson Pratt 
ORSON PRATT that lie was the first of the 

Pioneers to tread the site of Salt Lake City. He and his com- 
panion, it is said, had with them a single saddle horse, which 




THE SHORES OF THE INLAND SEA. 3'J 

they were riding- by turns. It is traditional in the Pratt t"aniil\ 
that Erastus Snow, while 




ERASTUS SNOW. 



mounted, missed his coat, 
which he had taken off and 
flung- loosely oA^er the saddle. 
He rode back to look for it, 
and Mr. Pratt walked on 
alone to the banks of City 
Creek. Erastus Snow's jour- 
nal makes no mention of this 
incident. 

Having rejoined his di- 
vision in the canyon, Orson 
Pratt, on the 22nd of July, 
led them into the Valley. He 
was immediately followed 
by George A. Smith and 
Willard Richards, with the 
main body. President Young 
and Heber C. Kimball were 
with the rear wagons. Pratt, 
Smith and others had partly 
explored the Valle}^ before 
the President arrived. They 

found the soil in places excellent, but in other parts unfit for 
agriculture. The drier portions swarmed with crickets, 
"about the size of a man's thumb." 

Divergent Views. — Some of the Pioneers waxed eloquent 
over the sublime scenery surrounding them, but their enthusi- 
asm was not shared by all their companions. The hearts of 
many sank within them when they were told that this was to 
be their permanent place of abode. Harriet Young, one of the 
three women who had journeyed from Winter Quarters, vit- 
tered this plaint: "Weak and weary as I am, I would rather 
go a thousand miles farther than remain in such a desolate 
place." Mrs. Kimball felt the same. Clara D. Young, on the 
other hand, expressed herself as satisfied with the situation. 
Their divergent views were those of the company in general. 
All. however, accepted reverently the statement of their leader, 
that before entering Salt Lake Valley he had beheld it in vision. 
and had seen a tent settling down from heaven and resting upon 
this spot, while a voice proclaimed : "This is the place where 
my people Israel shall pitch their tents."* 

*See Discourse l)y Erastus Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt 
Lake City, July 25, 1880; reproduced in the "Improvement Era," June, 1913. 

Wilford Wootlruff says of. President Young: "While lying upon 
his bed in my carriage, gazing upon the scene liefore us, many things 
of the future, concerning the Valley, were shown to him in vision." 



40 WHITNEY'S POPULAR lliSTORV OF UTAPL 

First Plowing and Planting — Beginnings of Irrigation.— 

The Pioneers corraled their wagons a little way below the can- 
yon now known as City Creek. The stream issuing from it 
then divided, a short distance from the mouth, into two 
branches, one flowing west, the other south. The first camp 
was where Washington Square was afterwards laid out — the 
present site of the Salt Lake City and County Building. Plow- 
ing and planting began within an area now between that edifice 
and the junction of Main and I'^irst South Streets, George W. 
Brown, \A'illiam Carter and Shadrach Roundy turned the first 
furrows. It was difficult work, and more than one plowshare 
was broken in the hard, sun-baked soil. 

To make the plowing easier, the ground was flooded, dams 
being placed in the creek for that purpose. This was the be- 
ginning of irrigation in arid America by men of the Anglo- 
Saxon race. They planted potatoes, corn, oats, buckwheat, 
peas, beans, and other garden seeds. The plows began work- 
ing during the forenoon of July 23rd, and the first seeds were 
put in on the morning of the 24th. 

Pioneer Sabbath Observance. — Next day Avas the Sabbath, 
and the grateful Pioneers did not fail to observe it. Assem- 
bling in the circle of their encampment, they gave thanks to 
God for bringing them safe to a land of peace and promise. 
Despite its desolation, this barren region was preferable for 
their purposes to the fertile and flowery slopes farther on. 
Here they were sure of the rest and quiet that they craved, 
but could not have found on the western coast, which was fast 
filling up with immigrants from those very States where the 
"Mormon" people had experienced their sorest troubles. 

The principal discourse, that Sabbath day, was by Elder 
Orson Pratt, of the Council of the Twelve, who took for his 
text Isaiah 52 :7, 8 : "How beautiful upon the mountains are 
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings." The speaker de- 
clared that these inspired words, with many other predictions 
of the ancient seers, bore directly upon the situation of the 
Latter-day Saints, who were now beginning to esta1)lish them- 
selves "in the midst of the Rocky Mountains," as their mar- 
tyred Prophet had foretold. 

President Young's Instructions. — President Young, though 
his enfeebled condition would not permit him to ])rcach a ser- 
mon, added a few practical words, sitting in his arm-chair 
while he addressed his fellow Pioneers. "He told them," says 
Wilford Woodrufif, "that they must not work on Sunday ; that 
they would lose five times as much as they would gain by it. 
None were to hunt or fish on that day, and there should not 
any man dwell among us who would not observe these rules." 
There Avas to be no buying or selling of land. "Every man 



THE SHORES OE THE ENH.AND SEA. 41 

should have his land measured out to him for city and farm- 
ing- purposes. He might till it as he pleased, but he must be 
industrious and take care of it."* 

The Valley Explored — A City Projected. — The I^ionccr 
Sa1)bath having been duly observed, the next care of the col- 
onists was to explore their surroundings. Three parties were 
organized for that j^urpose. President Young heading one of 
them. He left camp Monday morning and returned late in 
the afternoon. While ascending, to the northward, a high hill, 
he remarked concerning it. "A good place to lift up an ensign,' 
referring to another prediction of Isaiah's (11:12). As if to 
fulfill prophecy while expressing patriotism, the Pioneers after- 
wards raised the Stars and Stripes on that hill, which Brigham 
Young named "Ensign Peak." He and his party also visited 
the Warm Springs, then bubbling forth in a natural basin at 
the foot of a rugged spur of the Wasatch range. 

Passing Jordan River, which was then called "The Utah 
Outlet," the President and those with him next visited the 
Great Salt Lake, and enjoyed the luxury of a bath in its briny 
waters, the wonderful properties of which much impressed 
them. After partly exploring Tooele Valley, they traveled 
southward for about ten miles along the eastern base of the 
Oquirrh Mountains, turned eastward, recrossed Salt Lake Val- 
ley, and came again to the banks of City Creek. That eve- 
ning — July 28th — they decided to build a city, beginning at 
what is now Temple Block. 

*These instructions were reminiscent of the early experience of flic 
Latter-day Saints, under a social order introduced by their first leader, 
Joseph Smith. The proposed measuring out to each householder of a 
portion of land, which he would be required to industriously cultivate, 
was in keeping with the spirit of "The United Order," instituted at 
Kirtland, Ohio, and in Jackson County, Missouri. Under the opera- 
tions of that Order, the members of the Church were to consecrate all 
their properties for "the building up of Zion," receiving in return indi- 
vidual stewardships, to be managed and conducted for the general wel- 
fare; all gains reverting to a common fund, from which every steward 
would derive his or her support. "Every man seeking the interest of 
his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of 
God." This was the key-note of the United Order. 

Joseph Smith's concept of a commimity, while subsequent in enunci- 
ation to the theories of Robert Owen and the French socialists, was 
not inspired by modern socialism and its methods. Flis ideals were 
ancient and biblical, not modern and secular; they Avere of Moses and 
Joshua, rather than of Owen and Saint Simon. He declared that God 
had given him a commission to gather scattered Israel and begin a 
work that would eventuate in the establishment of the New Jerusalem 
and the preparation of a people for the glorious coming of the Lord. 
This is the real significance of "Mormon" proselyting and emigrational 
activities, — in fact of all authorized movements by the Cluirch of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-dav Saints. 



42 WHITNEY'S I'OPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Next Arrivals. — A Bowery Built. — The first to follow the 
Pioneers to the shores of the Great Salt Lake was the Pueblo 
detachment of the Mormon Battalion, which arrived on the 
29th of July, bringing the main body of the Mississippi emi- 
grants. The soldiers numbered over one hundred, and the 
emigrants about the same. Captain James Brown was in com- 
mand. It had been his intention, on leaving Pueblo, to march 
his men to California, but their term of enlistment having ex- 
pired, he determined to tarry here and await further orders. 

These Battalion men built the first structure in the Valley. 
It was a bowery in which to hold public meetings. Posts were 
set in the ground, and upon these long poles were laid, fas- 
tened with wooden pegs and strips of rawhide. This frame- 
work, which was covered with timbers and brush, made a good 
shelter from the sun, but afforded little protection against 
wind and rain.* 

The "Old Fort" Begun. — As a protection against hostile 
::.nd thieving savages, the Pioneers decided to build a fort, and 
preliminary to that end the wagons were formed into an ob- 
long corral between the two branches of City Creek. The 
Indians, some of whom had stolen guns and other articles from 
the camp, were not permitted inside this enclosure. Work 
upon the fort began on the tenth of August, prior to which 
date logs were hauled from the canyon, adobes made, and 
mounds prepared, for the proposed structure. 

Captain Brown to the Coast. — Early that month. Captain 
Brown set out for the Pacific Coast, taking with him power of 
attorney from his men to draw the pay due them from the 
Government. The small party accompanying him included 
Samuel Brannan, who returned crestfallen, after failing to con- 
vince President Young that the coast region was a more de- 
sirable place for the Latter-day Saints than the isolated, moun- 
tain-girt valleys of the Great American Desert. The west- 
bound travelers followed "The Northern Route." Captain 



*The day the bowery was built two small bands of Indians, Utes 
and Shoshones, were trading at the camps on City Creek. A young 
Ute stole a hprse from the Shoshones and traded it to one of the set- 
tlers for a rifle. When detected, he refused to give up the gun, and a 
fight ensued between him and a Shoshone youth. They were finally 
separated, but not until the father of one of them had lashed both the 
young fellows with a heavy thong of rawhide. The Ute then tried to 
steal another horse belonging to the Shoshones, but while driving ths 
animal toward the mountains he was pursued by four of the band and 
shot dead. The two tribes had long been at enmity, but now there was 
additional bad blood between them, caused by the coming of the Utes 
to trade with the settlers. The Shoshones claimed Salt Lake Valley 
and the country north, while the Utes held Utah Valley and the region 
south. It angered the Shoshones to find any of the settlers trading 
with the Utes. 



THE SHORES OE THE INLAND SEA. 43 

Brown conveyed to the discharged Battalion men, such as had 
not re-enlisted, an epistle from President Young and the Coun- 
cil of the Twelve, to the effect that those who were without 
families should remain on the coast, work through the winter, 
and come on to Salt Lake Valley with their earnings in the 
spring. 

First Birth and Death in the Colony. — The first birth in 
the Pioneer Colony v/as a girl, the daughter of John and Cath- 
erine Campbell Steele. The father was a Battalion man. The 
child was born on the 9th of August, 1847, and was named 
Young Eli/'::abeth Steele, "in honor of President Young and 
Queen Elizabeth." She lived to become, by marriage, Mrs. 
James Stapley, of Kanarra, Kane County, Utah. The first 
death occurred two days after this initial birth, the victim 
being Milton H. Therlkill, a three-year-old son of George and 
Jane Therlkill, of the Mississippi emigrants. Wandering from 
camp, the little one fell into City Creek and was drowned. 

Back to the Missouri — Immigration of 1847.— President 
Young, after superintending the erection of the fort, and giv- 
ing final instructions to those who were to spend the winter 
in the mountains, set out for the Missouri River, there to or- 
gani;:e the next season's emigration. His departure from Salt 
Lake Valley, late in August, took over one hundred men from 
the colony, but their places were more than supplied by the 
immigrants who began to arrive during the latter part of Sep- 
tember. These traveled in four large companies, aggregating 
fifteen hundred men, women, and children, with five hundred 
and sixty wagons and five thousand head of stock. President 
Young met these emigrants on the plains.* 

Incidents of the Return Journey, — The President's return 
journey was not without other lively incidents. Early one 



*The four companies were commanded respectively by Daniel 
Spencer, Edward Hunter, Jedediah M. Grant, and Abraham O. Snioot: 
with John Taylor, Parley P. Pratt, and John Young in general charge. 
There were also an artillery company, under General Charles C. Rich, 
several pieces of cannon being brought in this immigration. It had 
been organized on the frontier by Patriarch Isaac Morley and Bishop 
Newel K. Whitney, under instructions from President Young, given 
before the Pioneers departed for the West. In these companies were 
many well known Utah families. George Q. Cannon, then a youth of 
twenty, came with his uncle, John Taylor: and Eliza R. Snow, who 
liecame the most prominent of "Mormon" women, was in Captain 
Grant's "Hundred." Late in July or early in August, these emigrants 
encountered on the plains fourteen members of the Mormon Battalion, 
General Kearney's escort from San Francisco to Fort Leavenworth. 
There the volunteers, who were husbands or sons of women traveling 
with the emigrants, expected to be discharged. The expericMices of the 
new-comers largely duplicated those of the Pioneers. A number of 
deaths and births occurred among them before and after passing the 
Rocky Mountains. 



44 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

morning-, just before breaking camp, they were set upon by a 
band of Sioux Indians, who tried to stampede their stock. De- 
tected in the act, the red men shot at the g'uards, and seizing 
one, attempted to carry him off. Freeing- himself with his 
fists, he felled one of his assailants. An alarm was sounded, 
and in a moment the scene was alive with savages, about two 
hundred mounted warriors coming from the bluffs and tim- 
l->er near by. Firing a volley, they charged upon the camp. 
The Pioneers returned the fire, made a counter charge, and 
put the Indians to flight. Making signs of peace, the latter 
returned and apologized, stating that they had mistaken the 
campers for Crow Indians, with whom the Sioux were at war. 
They invited the "Mormon" leaders to their village, five miles 
away, where eight hundred of their tribe were encamped. 
Heber C. Kimball and Wilford AVoodruff, with others, ac- 
cepted the invitation, smoked the pipe of peace with the sav- 
ages, and recovered from them several horses, stolen on the 
Sweetwater. 

At Fort Laramie the east-bound party dined by invitation 
with Commodore Stockton, just from the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco. Journeying down the Platte, they met Captain Hosea 
Stout and a mounted squad — the old Nauvoo police — and later 
were greeted by Bishop Newel K. Whitney and others, who 
vv'ere bringing them supplies. On the 31st of October, their 
wagons rolled into Winter Quarters. 

More Battalion Men. — The next comers into Salt Lake 
Valley Avere members of the Mormon Battalion, recently 
mustered out of service on the Pacific Coast. They arrived on 
the 16th of October, bringing wheat, corn, potatoes, and gar- 
den seeds, to augment the limited stores of their fellow set- 
tlers in the Great Basin. Most of the soldiers remained in the 
colony, but some had the hardihood, notwithstanding the 
lateness of the season, to recross the plains and join their fam- 
ilies on the frontier. Subsisting mainly upon buffalo meat, 
procured during the journey, they pressed on through wintry 
winds and snows, and after much hardship and suffering, 
reached their destination al)out the middle of December. 



VI. 

EARLY EVENTS IN "THE VALLEY." 

1847-1849. 

Life in the Old Fort — First Schools. — The structure 

known as "The Old Fort" stood upon the block now called 
Pioneer Square, in the southwestern part of Salt Lake City. It 
was begun by the Pioneers, and completed by the immigrants 
who followed in their wake from Winter Quarters. The fort 
was in the form of a rectangle, the east side consisting" of a 
row of log houses, while the north, south and west sides were 
mud walls. This describes the original structure. But two 
additional blocks or parts of blocks, on the south, were en- 
closed in like manner and joined on to the original stockade. 
The extension was built by the immigrants. The roofs, which 
slanted inward, were of brush, covered with earth, the doors 
and windows facing the interior; and each house had a small 
loop-hole, looking out. Heavy gates, carefully locked at night, 
guarded the main entrance to the enclosure. 

The mistake of making many of the roofs almost flat, in- 
stead of sharply slanting, was the cause of mucii discomfort. 
The fore part of the winter was exceptionally mild, but as the 
season adxanced hea\y snows fell and melted, soaking througii 




SOUTH FORTS 



NORTH FOHT 



the earth and willow roofs, and descending in dri/./.ling 
streams upon the miserable inmates. One of the settlers had 
plastered his walls and ceilings with white clay, a good qual- 
ity of which was found in the neighborhood; but the merciless 
vvater trickled through, carrying with it in solution or in lum])s 
the treacherous plastering. 

There were other discomforts, such as mice and bugs, the 
latter coming in the green timber from the mountains. The 
mice were also native, though some of them may have ])een 
brought in the grain wagons of the immigrants. Outside, large 
white wolves howled around the stockade, and even attacked 



46 ^VIIITNEY'S rOPUf.AK ITTSTOin' OF UTAH. 



cattle vn the range. 1 fiinting- parties had tu be organized for 
their extermination. 

Life in the Old Fort was anything but elysian : and yet it 
had its bright side. More than one happy gathering, more 
than one joyful celebration, was held within those rude walls. 
Two little schools were taught there the first winter, the teach- 
ers being Julian Moses and Mary Jane Dilworth, who became 
Mrs. F. A. Hammond. 

Outside Locations — Further Explorings. — Until the re- 
turn of the leaders from Winter Quarters, most of the people 
in Salt Lake Valley continued to dwell within the Fort. A 
city had been laid out, and many of the lots had been distrib- 
uted, but it was not deemed wise to build upon or otherwise 
occupy them, until the colony had become strong enough to 
protect itself against possible Indian raids. A few of the set- 
tlers, however, anticipated the 
^_ general evacuation that took 

place when Salt Lake City 
was built. As early as the 
autumn of 1847 some moved 
out and established them- 
selves in other parts. The 
first house outside the Fort 
was built by Lorenzo D. 
Young, on the site of the 
present Bee Hive House, the 
official residence of the Pres- 
ident of the "Mormon" 
Church. Mr. Young's log cabin was occupied by him and his 
family in December, 1847.* 




A PIONEER CABIN 



*The removal of the Young family from the fort was much against 
the wishes of their friends, who feared harm to them from the Indians. 
An incident occurred that winter which proved the fear to be well 
founded. Mrs. Young, who was mother to the first white male child 
horn in the Valley, was alone with her infant one day, when an Indian, 
a fierce-looking fellow, came to the door, begging bread. She gave 
him two small biscuits, but Avith these he was not content. She gave 
him another, all the bread she had, but still he demanded more. Being 
told that there was no more he became furious, and fitting an arrow to 
his bow, aimed at her heart. She thought the last moment for herself 
and her helpless babe had come. Not yet! In another part of the 
house was a large dog, a powerful mastifif, purchased by her husband 
on leaving the fort, and kept upon the premises for her protection. 
^Making a sign to the Indian, as if in compliance with his demand, she 
passed into the next room and untied the dog. "Seize him!" she ex- 
claimed. The mastiff darted through the door-way sprang upon the 
intruder, bit him savagely and bore him to the ground. He pleaded 
for his life, and Mrs. Young, after prudently relieving him of his bow 



F.ARLN' l":\'l<.NTS IN "THE VALLEY." 47 

It was well for our poorly-housed "oldest inhabitants," 
that the greater part of their first winter in the mountains 
was mild and open. Logging, building, and exploring con- 
tinued at intervals until spring. In December, Parley P. 
Pratt and others, taking with them a boat and a fish-net in a 
wagon drawn by oxen, made a trip to Utah Lake. They 
caught a few fish, but their success was not encouraging. 
Returning, Mr. Pratt and a companion named Summers passed 
through Cedar, Rush, and Tooele valleys. Utah Valley had 
been explored during the previous August. 

Beginnings of Davis and Weber Counties. — The first 
lands settled upon, after those lying immediateh- south of 
Ensign Peak, are now included in Davis and Weber counties. 
In the autumn of 1847, Perrigrine Sessions, a captain of fifty 
in the immigration of that year, moved northward from the 
fort about ten miles, and encamped on the present site of 
Bountiful. Hector C. Haight followed, halting his wagons 
six or seven miles beyond, on Haight's Creek (Kaysville). 
Already had Thomas Grover encamped where Centerville 
now stands. These were the beginnings of Davis County, 
which was named after Captain Daniel C. Davis of the Mor- 
mon Battalion, who also made a home in that locality. 

The pioneer of Weber County was Captain James Brown. 
On his way to California in August, 1847, he crossed Weber 
River, where stood a log fort owned by Miles M. Goodyear, 
who held some adjacent ground under a grant from the Mex- 
ican Government. Goodyear, a trapper and trader, had met 
the Pioneers on Bear River, and endeavored, like Colonel 
Bridger, to dissuade them from bringing a colony into Salt 
Lake Valley. Captain Brown called at the fort, made the 
acquaintance of the proprietor, and upon returning from the 
Coast later in the season, purchased from Goodyear his lands 



and arrow, called off the dog, and set the wounded savage at liberty. 
He was badly hurt. The brave woman magnanimously washed his 
wound, applied a healing plaster, and sent him away, a wiser if not a 
better Indian. 

The settlements in Sah Lake Valley were not much molested by 
the red men. Others, formed later, fared worse. It was a custom with 
the savages to torture and kill, if they could not sell, their prisoners of 
war. Several Indian children were ransomed by persons at the fort, 
to save them from being shot or more crucll)' put to death by their 
captors. One of these children, a girl named Sally, was purchased by 
Charles Decker, who gave her to his sister, Mrs. Clara D. Young, by 
whom she was reared to womanhood. Sall}^ after becoming civilized, 
went back to her people from a pure sense of duty. Hoping to benefit 
her race by living among them, she became the wife of Kanosh, a 
Pauvant chief, but was unable to endure the hardships of savage life, 
and soon passed away. 



48 WHITNEY'S PUl'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

and improvements, and settling there, founded Brownsville, 
which became Ogden City.* 

Pioneer Mills, — About the time that these northern set- 
tlements were formed, the Gardner Brothers, Archibald and 
Robert, built a saw-mill, and John Neff a grist-mill, on Mill 
Creek, south of Salt Lake City; and gradually farming dis- 
tricts spread in that and in other directions. 

The Cricket Plague. — Little more than a camp was the 
so-called "City" — a log and mud fort, enclosing huts, tents, 
and wagons, with about eighteen hundred inhabitants — when 
an event occurred as unlooked for as it was terrible. It was 
the cricket plague. 

This calamity befell while President Young was still on 
the Missouri River, preparing to bring more of the migrating 
people to their new home among the mountains. Those al- 
ready here were anxiously awaiting the results of their first 
labors to redeem the desert and make the wilderness to blos- 
som. As already shown, some plowing and planting had been 
done by the Pioneers immediately upon their arrival. But 
the seeds then put in, though well irrigated, did not mature, 
owing to the lateness of the season. It was therefore their 
first real harvest in this region that the settlers were looking 
forward to at the time of the cricket invasion. 

Much depended upon that harvest, not only for the people 
already in the Valley, but for the immigrants, who were about 
to join them from the far-away frontier. The supplies brought 
by those who came the first season had been designed to last 
only about twelve months. They were gradually getting low, 
and these settlers were well-nigh isolated from the rest of 
mankind. "A thousand miles from anywhere" was the phrase 
used by them to describe their location. They had little com- 
munication with the outside world, and that little was by 
means of the ox-team and the pack-mule. If their harvest 
failed — what then? 

In the spring of 1848, five thousand acres of land were 
under cultivation in Salt Lake \''alley. Nine hundred acres 
had been sown with winter wheat, which was just beginning 
to sprout. Then came the crickets! In May and June 
myriads of these destructive pests rolled in black legions down 
the mountain sides, and attacked the fields of growing grain. 
The tender crops fell an easy prey to their fierce voracity. The 
ground over which they had passed looked as if scorched by 
fire. 



*The extent of the Goodyear tract was twenty miles square. The 
trapper's picket fort, enclosing a few log cabins, stood on the right 
bank of the Weber, not far from the present Union Railway depot. 



EARLY EVENTS IN "THE VALLEY." 



49 




Thoroughly alarmed, the community — men, women and 
children — marshaled themselves to fight the ravenous foe. 
Some went through the fields, killing the crickets — but crush- 
ing much of the tender grain. Some dug ditches around the 
farms, turned water into the trenches, and drove and drowned 
therein the black devourers. Oth- 
ers beat them back with clubs 
and brooms, or burned them in 
fires. Still the crickets prevailed. 
Despite all that could be done by 
the settlers, their hope of a har- 
vest was fast vanishing, a har- 
vest upon which life itself seemed 
to depend. 

Rescued by the Gulls. — They 
were rescued, as they believed, 
by a miracle — a greater miracle 
than is said to have saved Rome, 
when the cackling of geese roused 
the slumbering city in time to 
beat back the invading Gauls. In 
the midst of the work of destruc- 
tion, when it seemed as if nothing 
could stay it, great flocks of gulls 
appeared, filling the air with their 
white wings and plaintive cries. 
They settled down upon the half- 
ruined fields. At first it looked as 
if they had come but to help the 
crickets destroy. But their real 
purpose was soon apparent. They 
came to prey upon the destroyers. 
All day long they gorged them- 
selves, disgorged, and feasted 
again, the white gulls upon the 
black crickets, like hosts of heaven 
and hell contending, until the 
pests were vanquished and the 
people were saved. The birds 
then returned to their habitat — 
the Lake islands, leaving the 

grateful settlers to shed tears of joy over their timely deliver- 
ance. 

A season of scarcity followed, but no fatal famine ; and 
before the worst came, the glad people celebrated, with a pub- 
lic feast, their first harvest home. 

A Sacred Bird. — The "ull is still to be seen in the vicin- 



Hi 


-•-* 



GULL MONl'MKXT 



50 W 11 1 TN E Y 'S rX') 1 * U f . . \ 1< III Sl^O R Y ( ) F UTAH . 

ity of the Great Salt Lake. The wanton killing of these birds 
was made punishable by law. Rome had her sacred geese; 
Utah would have her sacred gulls, forever to be held in honor 
as the heaven-sent messengers that saved the Pioneers.* 

Feast of the Harvest Home. — The harvest feast of 1848 
occurred on the 10th of August. In the center of the Fort a 
bowery was erected, and underneath tables were spread, boun- 
teously and richly laden. Says Parley P. Pratt, in a glowing 
description of the event: "Large sheaves of wheat, rye, bar- 
ley, oats, and other products, were hoisted on poles for exhibi- 
tion, and there was prayer and thanksgiving, congratulations, 
songs, speeches, music, dancing, smiling faces, and merry 
hearts. It was a great day with the people of these valleys, 
and long to be remembered by those who had suffered and 
waited anxiously for the results of a first eft'ort to redeem the 
interior deserts of America." 

Immigration of 1848. — In September of that year Brigham 
Young arrived a second time in Salt Lake Valley, bringing 
with him nearly twenty-five hundred immigrants and about 
eight hundred wagons. With him came Heber C. Kimball and 
Willard Richards, his co-unselors in the First Presidency of 
the Church. Winter Quarters had been practically vacated, 
but Kanesville was in prospect, a town laid out by the Latter- 
day Saints in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, a few miles above 
Council Bluff's. t 



*From accounts given by early settlers, it seems that there were 
three successive years — 1848, 1849, and 1850 — during which the crickets 
after partly devastating the fields, were destroyed by the timely arrival 
of the gulls. An article by Dr. James E. Talmage, in "The Improve- 
ment Era," for December, 1909, throws light upon this subject. 

The Rocky Mountain cricket is thus described by Anson Call: 
"When full grown it is about one and one-half inches in length, heavy 
and clumsy in its movements, with no better power of locomotion than 
liopping a foot or two at a time. It has an eagle-eyed, staring appear- 
ance, and suggests the idea that it may be the habitation of a vindic- 
tive little demon." 

A fitting celebration of the episode of the crickets and the gulls 
took place September 29, 1913, when the Gull Monument was unveiled 
on Temple Block, Salt Lake City. This beautiful monument is the 
work of a Utah sculptor, Mahonri M. Young, grandson of President 
Brigham Young. 

tKanesville, named for Colonel Thomas L. Kane, became a point 
of outfit and departure for the Utah emigrants. Coming from Europe, 
by way of New Orleans, they steamed up the Mississippi and the Mis- 
souri to that point, where the overland journey began. Orson Hyde, 
the leading man at Kanesville, established there, in February, 1849, a 
paper called "The Frontier Guardian." During a conference, held on 
the site of Kanesville in December, 1847, the First Presidency, which 
had been vacant since the death of Joseph Smith, was organized. 



KARLV EVENTS IN "TITF. V^M.LEY." 51 

The Food Problem.— Tmincdiately after President 
Young's arrival, a conference was held in Salt Lake Valley, 
and the most pressing needs of the community received 
prompt attention. The population was then between four and 
five thousand. How to provide for them was a problem, as 
the signs of a long and severe winter began to show them- 
selves. More houses might be built, and some families might 
make shift with their waggons until spring; but where were the 
"loaves and fishes" with which to feed these "five thousand?"* 

The winter of 1848,1849 was uncommonly severe. Heavy 
snows and violent winds prevailed, and the weather, from the 
first of December until late in February, was extremely cold. 
The mercury fell to thirty-three degrees below zero. An in- 
ventory of breadstufifs, taken early in February, showed about 
three-fourths of a pound per day for each person until the be- 
ginning of July. The pressure of the famine was sorely felt, 
l)ut the community generally shared alike, and extreme suffer- 
ing was thus prevented. I 

The Pioneer City. — The Old Fort was now abandoned, the 
families all moving out upon the town lots previously distrib- 
uted to them. Many took with them their log huts, portions 
of the old stockade, which gradually disappeared as the city 
grew. 

Great Salt Lake City — for that was its original name — 
had been laid out in the summer of 1847, Orson Pratt and 
Henry G. Sherwood making the preliminary survey on the sec- 
ond day of August. The altitude at the southeast corner of 
Temple Block — the base and meridian — ^was determined as 
4,309 feet above sea level. The plan of the city was a perfect 
square, north, south, east and west; each block containing ten 



with Brigham Young as President, Heber C. Kimball as First Coun- 
selor, and Willard Richards as Second Counselor. These three led the 
next seasons immigration, which was divided into three large com- 
panies. Daniel H. Wells, Newel K. Whitney, Lorenzo Snow, Frank- 
lin D. Richards, and other men of prominence also arrived in that im- 
migration. Joseph F. Smith, then a mere lad, accompanied his wid- 
owed mother, Mary Fielding Smith, who drove her own ox-wagon over 
the plains. Other notable women in the companies were Mary Ann 
Angell Young, Vilate Murray Kimball, Elizabeth Ann Smith Whitney, 
Zina D. Huntington Young, and Emmeline B. Wells. 

*Says H. H. Bancroft, in his History of Utah: "That five thou- 
sand persons, including a very large proportion of women and children, 
almost without money, almost without provisions, except the milk of 
their kine and the grain which they had raised near their own camps, 
should, almost without the loss of a life, have accomplished this jour-, 
ney of more than twelve hundred miles, crossing range after range of 
mountains, bridging rivers, and traversing deserts, while liable at any 
moment to be attacked by roaming bands of savages, is one of the 
marvels that this century has witnessed." 



52 WHITNEY'S i'OPUI.AR HISTORY Ul< U'iVVH. 

acres of land. The streets were eight rods wide, with walks 
twenty feet in width on either side. Four blocks were re- 
served for public squares.* 

On the outskirts, fields of five, ten, and twenty acres were 
laid out, the smallest ones nearest the town, and the others 
graded in size according to distance. Each householder had 
a city lot of an acre and a quarter, and a field, with enough 
water to irrigate his land. The planting of trees was encour- 
aged ; and in time rich orchards brought forth luscious fruits, 
while shade trees lined the clear, sparkling streams flowing 
down both sides of the charming and healthful thoroughfares. 
Thus was planned and built the City of the Pioneers, the par- 
ent and model of hundreds of towns and villages now dotting 
the surface of "The Great American Desert." 



*Pioneer Square, the site of the Old Fort, is still a public park; 
Washington Square, where the Pioneers first encamped, contains the 
Salt Lake City and County Building; Union Square, with the buildings 
thereon, has been occupied successively by the University of Deseret 
and the Salt Lake City High School, the latter having its home there 
at this writing (1915). The Tenth Ward Square, the remaining one of 
the four, has become the property of the Utah Light & Traction Com- 



pany. 



VII. 

THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 

1N49-1.S51. 

Beginnings of Government in the Great Basin. — Neces- 
sity now arose for some form of government, pending the es- 
tablishment of a regular civic organization, the exact nature 
of which could not be determined until it became known which 
country— Mexico or the United States — would permanently 
])ossess the land upon which the "Mormon" people were mak- 
ing their homes. The war between the two nations was prac- 
tically over, but no treaty had yet been signed, and the Amer- 
ican inliabitants of Salt Lake Valley, as well as their country- 
men aUmg the California coast, were still upon alien soil. 

The Salt Lake Stake. — Recognizing the existing need, 
President Young and his associates, before returning to the 
Missouri River, had provided for an organization which, 
though ecclesiastical in form, was acceptable to the colonists, 
nearly all of whom were members of the same religious body. 
.\t a conference held in the Fort, October, 1847, what is known 
as a "Stake" organization was effected. Salt Lake Valley be- 
came Salt Lake Stake, and later the Stake was divided into 
Wards, nineteen of which were in Salt Lake City.* 

Civic Officers. — In addition to the Stake and Ward au- 
thorities, whose functions were ecclesiastical, other officers 
were appointed, by common consent, to preserve the peace, 
levy and collect taxes, and carry on public improvements. A 
"County Organization" is referred to in the Pioneer records, 
with such officers as probate judge, sheriff, recorder, and treas- 
urer. A "Municipal Council" is likewise mentioned. All this 
liefore the setting up of a regular civic government. John Van 
Cott was marshal, with Tohn Nebeker as his assistant; and 



*A Stake is a subdivision of the Church, and like the Church is 
presided over by three high priests, who constitute the stake presi- 
dency. Associated with these are twelve high priests, known as high 
councilors. Each ward is presided over by a bishop with two counsel- 
ors. The bishops are as common magistrates, and the high council, 
with the stake presidency, sits as an appellate court. Salt Lake stake 
was organized with John Smith, Charles C. Rich, and John Young as 
its presidency, and with Hcnrv G. Sherwood, Thomas Grover, Levi 
Jackman, John Murdock, Daniel Spencer, Lewis Abbott, Ira Eldredge, 
Edson Whipple, Shadrach Roundy, John Vance, Willard Snow, and 
\braham O. Smoot as high councilors. Tarlton Lewis was the first 
i)i^hop, prior to the ordination, in February, 1849, of nineteen bishops 
to preside over the newlv-crcated wards of Salt Lake City. The Stake 
was then re-organized, with Daniel Spencer, David Fullmer and Wil- 
lard Snow as its Presidency. 



54 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Albert Carrington served as postmaster. The situation of 
these people was similar to that of the early settlers of New 
England, and their methods of government were much the 
same as those of their ancestors in Massachusetts, Connecti- 
cut, and other colonies. 

First Political Convention. — A purely political rule, how- 
ever, soon became necessary. By the treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo, signed on the 2nd of February, 1848, Mexico ceded 
this region to the United States, and the settlers, most of 
whom were native Americans, took steps, after the return of 
their absent leaders, toward founding an American common- 
wealth, a government subject to and agreeable with the con- 
stitution and laws of the great Republic. 

As usual in such cases, a convention was called, to con- 
sider the political needs of the community. This call, issued 
in February, 1849, was addressed to "all the citizens of that 
portion of Upper California lying east of the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains ;" meaning, in general terms, the country bounded 
on the east by the Rocky Mountains, on the west by the Sierra 
Nevada, on the north by the Territory of Oregon, and on the 
south by the Republic of Mexico.* The people were invited to 
meet at Great Salt Lake City on Monday, the 5th of March. 
The thought of Inauguration Day was probably in mind when 
the call was issued, but the 4th falling upon Sunday, the 5th 
was chosen instead. 

A Territory Proposed. — When the mass convention assem- 
bled, it was decided to ask Congress for the organization of a 
Territory, to be named Deseret, a word taken from the Book of 
Mormon, and signifying "Honey Bee." Accordingly, a peti- 
tion was sent to the City of Washington, requesting early 
action in the matter. The bearer of this petition. Dr. John 
M'. Bernhisel, took with him a letter of introduction to Sen- 
ator Stephen A. Douglas, signed by Brigham Young, Heber 
C. Kimball and Willard Richards, the three most prominent 
men in the community. These men had been acquainted with 
Senator Douglas in Illinois. They were now the First Pres- 
idency of the "Mormon" Church. f 



*"Upper California," so called to distinguish it from Lower Cali- 
fornia, the peninsula still bearing that name, comprised the present 
States of California, Nevada, and Utah, here named in the order of 
their elevation to sovereignty. 

tThe personnel of the General Authorities of the Church stood as 
follows: First Presidency, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Wil- 
lard Ricliards; Twelve Apostles, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Orson 
Pratt, Inliii Tavlor, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Aniasa j\l. 
Lyman l-'.zra t. Benson, Charles C. Rich, Lorenzo Snow, Erastus 
Snow, Franklin D. Richards: Patriarch, John Smith; First Council of 



THE PROXISIONAI. STATE OE DESERET. 



JO 



A Temporary State Government.— The Convention 
adopted a constitution, which ordained and established "The 
Provisional Government of the State of Deseret;" the bound- 
aries of which were the same as those of the proposed Terri- 
tory. They embraced present Utah and Nevada, and parts of 
Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, with a strip 
of sea-coast in Southern California, including the port of 
San Diego.* 

The Earliest Election. — The election of officers for the 
Provisional Government took place at Salt Lake City on the 
12th of March, 1849, with the following result: IBrigham 
Young, Governor ; Heber C. Kimball, Chief Justice ; Newel 
K. Whitney and John Taylor, Associate Justices; Horace S. 
Eldredge, Marshal; Daniel H.Wells, Attorney General; Albert 
Carrington, Assessor and Collector; Joseph L. Hey wood. Sur- 
veyor of Highways. At the same time justices of the peace 
were elected, one for each of the nineteen wards of Salt Lake 
City, and each of the outside precincts, namely, Weber River. 
North Mill Canyon (Sessions Settlement), Big Cottonwood, 
North Cottonwood, South Cottonwood, and Mill Creek. Sub- 
sequently the members of the Legislature were chosen. All 
officers, whether elective or appointive, served without pay. 

The General Assembly — Petition for Statehood. — The 
General Assembly of Deseret held its first session on the 2nd 
of July, probably at the Council House, which was also known 



the Seventy, Joseph Young, Levi W. Hancock, Henry Herrinian, Zera 
Pulsipher, Albert P. Rockwood, Benjamin L. Clapp, Jedcdiah M. 
Grant; Presiding Bishop, Newel K. Whitney. Presidents Brigham 
Young and Heber C. Kimball acted as counselors to the Presiding 
Bishop. 

*The Constitution of Deseret provided that the State Government 
should have its seat at Great Salt Lake City, with its powers divided 
into three branches — legislative, executive, and judicial. All the offi- 
cers were elective by the people, and the Legislature, or General As- 
sembly, was to hold annual sessions, the initial one on the first Mon- 
day in July, 1849. All subsequent sessions were to be held on the first 
Mondajf in December. Members of the House of Representatives were 
to be elected every two years, and the Senators every four years. The 
former must be at least twenty-five, and the latter thirty years of age, 
all free, white, male citizens of the United States, residing in the State 
of Deseret. The Legislature was to elect its own officers, who, with 
the members, were to make oath or affirmation to support the Consti- 
tution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Deseret. 
The Governor's term of office was four years. The judiciary was to 
consist of a Supreme Court and such other inferior tribunals as the 
General Assembly might provide. A State militia was to be organized, 
armed, equipped and trained. It was required that voters at the first 
election should be free, white, male residents of the State, over the 
age of twenty-one. 



56 WHITNEY'S TOrULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

as the State House.* By that time the founders of the com- 
monwealth had become better informed respecting the rela- 
tive advantages and disadvantages of State and Territorial 
government, and had decided to ask Congress to admit Deseret 
into the Union as a State. Accordingly, a new petition was 
prepared, and having been signed by the legislators and other 
citizens, it was sent to Washington. Colonel Almon W. Bali- 



I 


1 













THE COUNCIL HOUSE. 

l)itt was the bearer of this petition and a copy of the state 
constitution to the national capital. t 

Proposed Joint Admission. — The people west of the Sierra 
Nevada having also set up a provisional government, it was 
proposed to secure the admission of Deseret and California as 
one State, with the understanding that they would afterwards 
separate and form two distinct commonwealths. President 



*The Council House, Utah's first legislative hall, stood at the cor- 
ner of Main and South Temple Streets, Salt Lake City. It was built of 
red standstone, was erected in 1848-1849, and destroyed by fire in 1883. 
The old site is now occupied by the Deseret News Building. 

tThe new petition set forth that the people of Deseret, for their 
own security, and to preserve the constitutional right of the United 
States to hold jurisdiction here, h.ad organized a Provisional State 
Government, under which the civil policy of the Nation was duly 
maintained; it affirmed that there was a sufficient number of individ- 
uals residing within the State to support a government of this charac- 
ter, there!)}' relieving the General Government from the expenses of 
a territorial rule; and for these and other reasons Congress was asked to 
ratify the proposed constitution and admit Deseret into the Union on 
an equal footing with the other States. 



THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 57 

Zachary Taylor was said to favor this plan, which promised a 
solution of the slavery question in the newly-acquired prov- 
ince, the inhabitants of which were to decide for themselves 
whether the State should be slave or free. Deseret consented 
to the proposed union, but with the proviso that the sep- 
aration should take place at the beginning of the year 1851, 
when each State, with its own constitution, was to become 
free, sovereign and independent, without any further action 
by Congress. Nothing came of the movement, California be- 
ing unwilling to unite. 

The Militia Organization. — Meanwhile the Provisional 
Government of Deseret went into efifect. One of its first acts 
was to organize the militia, Charles C. Rich and Daniel H. 
AW'lls being appointed a military committee for that purpose. 
The}- completed their labors in May, 1849. Nearly all the men 
were enrolled as soldiers of the State.* 

Primitive Mail Service. — As yet there was no regular mail 
service, the news from East or West being brought by chance 
travelers. The eastbound mail, in the summer of 1849, was 
carried by Colonel Babbitt, on his way to Washington. In 
those days letters were without envelopes or stamps, and 
were wrapped in buckskin covers, tied round and round with 
strings of the same material. t 

Almost a Famine. — The work of building up the State 
went steadily on, though in the face of distressing conditions. 
There was almost a famine in the land. A scant harvest, re- 
sulting from the cricket plague, as well as from drouth and 
frost, had made the food question a serious one, and clothing 
and other necessaries were almost as scarce as bread-stuffs. 
Nearly every man in the community dressed in buckskin and 



*Mtn over fifty years of age were called "Silver Greys," and tliosc 
under eighteen "Juvenile Rifles." The militia was known as "The 
Nauvoo Legion," a name previously borne by the Nauvoo part of tlic 
militia of Illinois. It was modeled, with some variations, after the 
Roman Legion. There were two cohorts — one of cavalry, under Brig- 
adier-General Jedediah M. Grant, and the other of infantry, under 
Brigadier-General Horace S. Eldredge. Two companies com])rised 
theartillery. The first militia organization was a body of cavalry — 
"Minute Men"^commandcd by Captain George D. Grant. Sidise- 
quently military districts were established. The chief officer of the 
Legion was Lieutenant-General Daniel H. Wells. 

t"How quiet, how still, how free from excitement we live! The 
legislation of our High Council, the decision of some judge or court 
of the Church, a meeting, a dance, a visit, exploring tour, the arrival 
oT a party of trappers and traders, a Mexican caravan, a party arrived 
from the Pacific, or from Fort Bridger; a visit of Indians, or a mail 
from the distant world once or twice a year, is all that breaks the mon- 
otony of our busy and peaceful life." — Parley P. Pratt, in a private let- 
ter, September, 1848. 



58 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



wore Indian moccasins. Those who had provisions put their 
families n])()n rations, while those who were without, or had 

but little, dug- and ate sego and 
thistle roots, or cooked the 
hides of animals, to eke out 
their scanty store.* 

How Relief Came — The 
California Gold Discovery. — 
Relief came in a manner most 
unexpected — and here the his- 
tory of Deseret again connects 
with the history of California. 
It has already been shown how 
the Mormon Battalion received 
its discharge at Los Angeles in 
July, 1847, and how the main 
l)()dy of the volunteers set out 
to rejoin their families and 
friends, in the Great Basin or 
on the Missouri frontier. Our 
narrative now has to do with 
these returning soldiers. Pur- 
suing at first a northwesterly 
course, they came to Sutter's 
Fort, near the present City of 
Sacramento, and there some of them found temporary employ- 
ment. The main body, reaching Lake Tahoe, met Samuel 
Brannan, coming back from Salt Lake Valley after his inef- 
fectual attempt to persuade the Pioneers to locate their new 
home on the Pacific Coast. Brannan gave a doleful account of 
the place they had chosen for a settlement, and expressed the 
belief that they would yet follow his advice and remove to Cali- 
fornia. At Truckee River the Battalion men met Captain Brown, 
and received from him the epistle of the Church authorities, 
advising such of them as had no families to remain on the 
Coast and work through the winter. About half of them turned 
back, quite a number rejoining their comrades at Sutter's Fort, 
where they also secured employment. 

Abput forty-five miles east from the Fort, in the little val- 
ley of Coloma, on the south fork of the American River, a saw 
mill had been erected for Captain Sutter. After the mill was 
completed, the water was turned into the race, to clear away 
dirt and other debris, preliminary to a trial run. The stream 
havino- been shut ofif, Sutter's foreman, while walking along 




THE SEGO LIIA. 



*TIie incmory of this early use of the soft and bulbous root of tlic 
scgo lily, (luitc as much as the natural beauty of the flower, caused it 
to be selected in after years as the floral emblein of Utah. 



THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 59 

the tail-race, picked up from the bottom of the ditch a few yel- 
low, shmmg particles, about the size of wheat grains These 
were assayed, and found to be g:old. The foreman was Tames 
VV. Marshall, famed as the discoverer of gold in California 
(January, 1848). But others besides Marshall were concerned 
ni the famous "find;" "Mormon" picks and shovels had helped 
to bring- the precious metal to the surface. 

The Bigler Record.— One of Sutter's "Mormon" cm- 
plcnes, Henry W. Bigler. afterwards of St. George. Utah, made 
what was probably the first record of the world-renowned dis- 
covery. The entry in his diary read as follows: "Monday, 
24th, This day some kind of metal was found in the tail race 
that looks like gold." Six days later he wrote: "Our metal 
has been tried, and proves to be gold. It is thought to be rich. 
We have picked up more than one hundred dollars worth last 
week." Associated with Bigler were Alexander Stephens. 
James S. Brown. James Berger. William J. Johnson, and 
Azariah Smith, all. like himself, ex-members of the Mormon 
Battalion.* 

Brannan as Promoter. — One of the most enthusiastic pro- 
moters of the gold excitement was Samuel Brannan. He 
stirred San Francisco, which was at first indifl^erent. to a fever 
of agitation over the event. Coming from Sutter's Fort, he 
brought with him, as did others, gold dust and nugget? frc^n 
the placers. "Gold! Gold! Gold!" shouted Brannan, as he 
strode down the street, swinging his hat with one hand, and 
holding in the other a bottle of the yellow dust, which he dis- 
played to the gaping crowds that gathered round him. Sight, 
reinforcing rumor, kindled a fire that could not be quenched ; 
Brannan's paper, the "Star," added fuel to the flame; and 
from the wild rush to the gold fields that followed, San Fran- 
cisco was in some danger of being depopulated. 

The "Argonauts." — The excitement was not confined tn 
California. It extended over the civilized world, and by sea 
and land eager souls from many nations hurried to the new El 
Dorado. Much of this emigration passed through Salt Lake 
A'allev. Here the tired gold-seekers halted for rest, or to ob- 
tain means to enable them to reach their journey's end. _ Some 
had loaded their wagons with merchandise and supplies for 

*These names arc given as tliey appear in James S. P.rnwn's "T,ifc 
of a Pioneer." Some of the richest gold finds on the American River 
were due to these men and their comrades who took part in extending 
the area of the original discovery. "Mormon Island." in the American 
River, became noted for its "diggings." A number of the Battalion 
men while working on Sutter's land, shared the results of their labors 
with liim and his partner, Marshall, who furnislied provisions and tools 
for the prosecution of the enterprise. Afterwards the employes op- 
erated independently on claims of their own. 



60 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



the mining camps. Impatient at their slow progress, and hear- 
ing that other merchants had arrived by sea before them, 
they all but threw away the valuable goods they had freighted 
over a thousand miles. Their choice, blooded, though now 
jaded stock was eagerly exchanged for the fresh mules and 
horses of the settlers. Dry goods, groceries, provisions, cloth- 
ing, implements — in short, all that was needed by the poorly 
fed, half-clad community in the mountains, was bartered ofi to 
them at almost any sacrifice, so anxious were the owners to 
lighten their loads and shorten the time of travel. In this man- 
ner "the gold emigration," as it was called, greatly benefited 
the people in the Basin. 

Heber C. Kimball's Prophecy. — The advent of the gold 
hunters, and the relief that came with them, brought about 

the fulfillment of a prophecy 
uttered by Heber C. Kimball 
several months before. During 
the days of scarcity, while the 
settlers hardly knew where to 
look for the next crust of bread 
or for rags to hide their naked- 
ness, President Kimball de- 
clared in a public meeting that 
"State's goods," within a short 
time, would be sold in Salt 
Lake City cheaper than in St. 
Louis or New York, and that 
the people wpuld be abundant- 
Iv supplied with food and cloth- 
ing. The surprise of the con- 
gregation at hearing these 
words was not based upon any 
expectation that they were des- 
tined to be realized. Rather 
were the people astounded that 
one of their wisest men would 
HEBER c. KiMHALL. make such a seemingly prepos- 

terous statement. The realization came, however, i'.i the man- 
ner described.* 




*Sai(l the Frontier Guardian: "When tliey (the emigrants) saw a 
few bags and kegs of gold dust brought in by our boys, itjiiade them 
completely enthusiastic. Pack mules and horses thaf were worth 
twenty-five dollars in ordinary times, would readily bring two hundred 
dollars in the most valuable property at the lowest price. Goods and 
other property were daily offered at auction in all parts of the city. 
For a light Yankee wagon, sometimes three c)r four great heavy ones 
would be offered in exchange, and a yoke of oxen thrown in at that. 
Common domestic sheeting sold from five to ten cents per yard by 



THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 61 

The Gold Fever.— The "gold fever" infected some of the 
citizens of Deseret, and an influence had to be exerted by the 
leading men to prevent too large an emigration from these 
parts. "We cannot eat gold and silver," said Brigham Young, 
to the people who had elected him Governor. "Devote your- 
selves to agriculture, manufacture, coal and iron mining; es- 
tablish those industries that lie at the basis of ever state's 
prosperity, and let the gold and silver stay where they are, 
until the proper time comes to bring them forth and utilize 
them." Such was the substance of his advice. Despite all per- 
suasion, however, some were hurried away, overcome by the 
prevailing thirst for sudden wealth.* 

Governor Young's Attitude Toward Mining.— Governor 
Young, while deprecating the extravagances of the gold excite- 
ment, and averse to the premature opening of precious mines 
nearer home, had no prejudice against mining as a vocation, 
though some of his critics would fain have the world so be- 
lieve. Party after party of "Mormon" missionaries, on their 
way to the Pacific Islands and other parts, were counseled by 
him to work in the California mines long enough to provide 
themselves with means of transportation to their various fields 
of labor; and they acted accordingly. 

First Money — The Deseret Mint. — Much of the gold mined 
in California found its way to Deseret, and served a timel}- 
purpose. Money was exceedingly scarce, and great inconveni- 
ence had resulted. Exchange and barter was the rule, clothing 
and furniture being paid for with cattle, wheat or potatoes. 
Frequently little bags of gold dust were handed around, in lieu 
of dollars and cents. An efifort was made to coin the dust, but 
the crucible used in the process broke, and paper money was 



the bolt. The best of spades and shovels for fifty cents each. Vests 
that cost in St. Louis one dollar and fifty cents each, were sold at 
Salt Lake City for thirty-seven and one-half cents. Full chests of 
joiners' tools that would cost one hundred and fifty dollars in the East, 
were sold in Salt Lake City for twenty-five dollars. Indeed, almost 
every article, except sugar and cofifee, were selling on an average fifty 
per cent, below wholesale prices in the Eastern States." 

*On the other hand, it is a remarkable fact that the Battalion men 
who had been advised from Salt Lake Valley to rejoin the main body 
of their people at an early day, did so, notwithstanding the prevalent 
and constantly growing excitement over the gold fields that was be- 
ginning to sweep the coast lands like a cyclone. Preparatory to 
their journey to Deseret, in 1848, they rendezvoused at Dutch Flat, a 
few miles from Coloma, and crossed the Sierra Nevada at or near the 
head of the American River. Three of their number, David Browett, 
Daniel Allen, and Henderson Cox, moving out ahead, were waylaid 
and killed by Indians. The others reached their destination in safety. 
Many of the "Brooklyn" company — perhaps most of them — also carne 
to "The Valley:" but Brannan, their sometime leader, remained in 
California. Tie died many years later in Mexico. 



62 W H I T N E Y 'S i 'u 1 ' U LA R H ISTOR Y O F UTAH . 

then issued.* A second attempt to coin the dust succeeded, and 
gold pieces were then issued, ranging in value from two and 
one-half dollars up to twenty dollars. These coins were of un- 
alloyed virgin gold, and were designed merely for local use. 
As soon as United States money became available, they were 
called in and disposed of as bullion to the Federal mints. The 
Deseret Mint was in a small adol)e building on South Temple 
Street, a little east of where the palatial Hotel Utah now 
stands. t 

The Stansbury Expedition.— Late in August, 1849, Cap- 
tain Howard Stansbury, of the United States Topographical 
Engineers, arrived from Fort Leavenworth at the head of an 
expedition having as its object a Government exploration and 
survey of Great Salt Lake Valley. He was accompanied by 
Lieutenant John W. Gunnison, also of the Topographical 
Corps, and Lieutenant G. W. Howland, of the Mounted Rifles. 
These, with fifteen others, composed the surveying party. A 
few emigrants for California had traveled with them from the 
frontier. 

Rumors of the coming of the expedition had preceded it, 
and speculation was rife as to its purpose. The impression pre- 
vailed that the lands upon which the people had settled were 
about to be seized by the Government, with a view to breaking 
up the colony; an impression emphasized by an incident that 
occurred a few days before Stansbury's arrival. While Gen- 
eral John Wilson, the newly-appointed Indian Agent for Cali- 
fornia, was passing through Salt Lake City, one of his party 
had boasted that the General held authority from the President 
of the United States to drive the "Mormon" settlers from their 
lands, and until the leader of the surveying expedition ex- 
plained to the contrary, his coming was supposed to be con- 
nected with the unauthorized assertion of Wilson's officious 
subordinate. Captain Stansbury, calling upon Governor Young, 



*Tlie first bill — one dollar — was dated January 1st, 1849. This was 
before the Government of Deseret was organized, and while the 
Municipal Council was attending to the public business. The making 
of these bills, for which Brigham Young and Thomas Bullock set the 
type, was the first printing done in Salt Lake Valley. Old bills, issued 
by the Kirtland Bank, a "Mormon" institution in Ohio, which went 
down in the financial crash of 1837, also served as a temporary cur- 
rency during this period. 

tThe first dies for the Deseret coins were cut by John Kay, as- 
sisted by William Clayton and Thomas Bullock, the former as ac- 
countant, the latter as weigher. The next ones were made by Douglas 
Brown, in the office of James M. Barlow, jeweler, whose record says: 
"For a number of years, and until Governor Gumming ordered its dis- 
continuance, I refined the gold and coined it into money." The dies, 
punches, and drop or hammer, were made by Alfred B. Lambson and 
Martin H. Peck. 



^J'lll': l'KO\-TSl( )\.\L STATJ:: Ol' DESl'.Kl'yr. 63 

stated his real oljjcct, and was cordially welcomed and offered 
all possible assistance to facilitate his operations; a fact grate- 
fully acknowledged by him in his book, afterwards published.* 



*"Exploration and Survey of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake," 
etc., by Howard Stansbury. Philadelphia, 1852. Another title for the 
book is "Stansbury's Expedition." 

Lieutenant Gunnison also wrote a book entitled "The Mormons — 
The'r History and Religion," wherein he says: "We found them, in 
1849, organized into a State, witli all tlie order of legislative, judicial, 
and executive ofifices, regularly filled under a constitution eminently 
republican in sentiment and tolerant in religion." He thus goes on: 
"Of the parties organized in the States to cross the plains, there was 
hardly one that did not break into several fragments, and the division 
of property caused a great deal of difficulty. Many of these litigants 
applied to the courts of Deseret for redress of grievances, and there 
was every appearance of impartiality and strict justice clone to all 
parties. Of course there would be dissatisfaction when the right was 
declared to belong to one side alone, and the losers circulated letters 
far and near, of the oppression of the Mormons. They would some- 
times rebel against the equity decisions, and then they were made to 
feel the full majesty of civil power. For contempt of court they were 
most severely fined, and in the end found it a losing game to indulge 
in vituperation of the court, or make remarks derogatory to the high 
functionaries. Again, the fields in the Valley are imperfectly fenced, 
and the emigrants' cattle often trespassed upon the crops. For this 
a good remuneration was demanded, and the value being so enor- 
mously greater than in the States, it looked to the stranger as an im- 
position and an injustice to ask so large a price. A protest would 
usually be made, the case then taken before the Bishop, and the costs 
added to the original demand. Such as these were the instances of 
terrible oppression that have been industriously circulated as unjust 
acts of heartless Mormons upon the gold emigration. But provisions 
were sold at very reasonable prices, and their many deeds of charity 
to the sick and broken down gold-seekers, all speak loudly in their 
favor, and must eventually redound to their praise. Such kindness, 
and apparently brotherly good will among themselves, had its effect 
in converting more than one to their faith, and the proselytes deserted 
the search for golden ore, supposing they had found there pearls of 
greater price." 

Captain Stansbury wrote in a similar vein, and that, after an ex- 
perience in the payment of fines and costs resulting from the trespass 
of some of his mules upon the corn fields of the settlers. He testifies 
that the people treated the passing emigrants with fairness and kind- 
ness, and that the latter were afforded protection against Indians and 
outlaws in general. "Too many that passed through their settlements," 
says Stansbury,"were disposed to disregard their claim to the land they 
occupied, to ridicule the municipal regulations of their city, and to 
trespass wantonly upon their rights. Such offenders were promptlj- 
arrested by the authorities, made to pay a severe fine, and in some in- 
stances were imprisoned or made to labor on the public works; a 
punishment richly merited, and which would have been inflicted upon 
them in any civilized community. In short, these people presented 
the appearance of a quiet, orderly, industrious, and well-organized so- 
ciety, as much so as one would meet with in any city of the Union, 
having the rights of personal property as perfectly defined and as re- 
ligiously respected as with ourselves." 



64 WHITNEY'S POPULy\R HISTORY OF UTAH. 

He was aided in his survey of Salt Lake Valley by Albert Car- 
rington, one of the Pioneers. 

Immigration of 1849. — The immigrants of 1849, led by 
Orson Spencer, George A. Smith, Ezra T. Benson and others, 
suffered severely from cholera, especially while ascending the 
Missouri River, betw^een St. Louis and Kanesville. A Welsh 
company under Captain Dan Jones w2ls particularly unfortu- 
nate, losing sixty lives. Three companies nearly perished in a 
fearful snow-storm at South Pass.* 

Emigrational and Missionary Activities. — In the fall of 
that year the Perpetual Emigrating Eund Company was in- 
corporated, with a view to assisting the poor among the Lat- 
ter-day Saints in various countries to migrate to their gather- 
ing place in the West. In order to make the fund perpetual, 
those aided by it were expected to return, as soon as possible, 
the means advanced for their transportation. Every year this 
company sent wagons to the Missouri River, to bring emi- 
grants across the plains. f 

Simultaneously with the inception of the P. E. Eund en- 
terprise, the first missionaries were sent out from the region 
of the Rocky Mountains. The several parties were bound re- 
spectively for Great Britain, Scandinavia, Erance, Germany, 
Italy, California, and the Pacific Islands.! 

Character of the Colonists. — Talent and genius, brain and 
brawn, from various parts of the world, came in the early im- 
migrations to Salt Lake Valley. There were farmers, laborers, 
tradesmen, mechanics, merchants, manufacturers, and busi- 



*These and other circumstances caused the "Mormon" leaders to 
contemplate at one time a change in the route of their European emi- 
gration. Instead of bringing it by way of New Orleans, it was pro- 
posed to have it cross the Isthmus of Panama, or go around Cape 
Horn, landing at San Diego, California, thence traveling overland to 
Salt Lake Valley. This project was never put into effect, but much of 
the immigration of future years, avoiding the river route, landed at 
Boston, or New York, and thence traveled overland to the Rocky 
Mountains. 

tSome seasons as many as five hundred wagons were furnished 
for that purpose. Brigham Young was president of the company, and 
Edward Hunter the first emigration agent. The Church and its leading- 
men were the principal contributors to the Fund, and five thousand 
dollars was the sum of the original contributions. 

tin order to comprehend the full significance of these movements, 
it must be borne in mind that the Latter-day Saints claim lineal de- 
scent from ancient Israel, and that their religion contemplates the 
literal gathering of the chosen people, in fulfillment of prophecy. 
Converted by missionaries sent to the nations, they are brought to 
America, "the land of Zion," to prepare for the second coming of the 
Messiah. Such is the meaning of all the missionary and emigrational 
activities of the "Mormon" Church. It was to promote the work of 
"The Gathering" that the Perpetual Emigrating Fund was establislicd. 



THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 65 



ness men, with a liberal sprinkling of artists, musicians, writ- 
ers, and other professional people. "In their degree the pick 
and flower of England," was the comment passed upon a ship'<= 
company of these emigrants, by the afterwards famous Charles 
Dickens, while a reporter on a London newspaper. A select 
committee of the House of Commons, after thorough investi- 
gation, pronounced the "Mormon" emigrant ship "a family 
under strong and accepted discipline, with every provision for 
comfort, decorum, and internal peace."* 

The Land Question. — Wherever settlements sprang up 




EMIGRANT TRAIN PASSING CHIMNEY ROCK. 

they were upon lands claimed by the Indians and acquired by 
the United States at the close of the war with Mexico. The 
Nation was expected to deal with the Indians, and in due time 



*Crossing the sea, generally in large companies, cared for by capa- 
ble agents, these emigrants traveled in various ways to the frontier, 
where wagons from the West awaited them. They were then reor- 
ganized for the journey over the plains; an ox team and wagon, with 
three months' supplies, being necessary for the average family. The 
toilsome trip at an end, they would be met by relatives or friends, and 
given employment at Salt Lake City, or sent to settle anddevelop new 
sections. Most of the new-comers, taking up and improving land, and 
practicing wherever possible their trades or professions, soon ac- 
quired homes of their own. The company described by Dickens was 
that of the ship "Amazon," sailing from London in June, 1863. 



66 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

with the settlers, but until it took steps in this direction the 
people could obtain no title to their homes. Much anxiety was 
felt by them in consequence. While waiting for the National 
Government to dispose of the soil, the Provisional Government 
made temporary grants to its citizens, of the lands they occu- 
pied, including the use of grazing ground, with water and tim- 
ber for milling and lumbering purposes.* 

Utah, Sanpete, and Tooele Valleys Colonized. — South- 
ward from Salt Lake Valley, the first colonizing movement 
was made in the spring of 1849. John S. Higbee, a pioneer of 
1847, was placed at the head of about thirty families, with wag- 
ons and a complete outfit, and directed to form a settlement in 
Utah Valley. The company included Dimick B. Huntington, 
Indian interpreter. They left Salt Lake City about the midd > 
of March, and camping on Provo River, built a fort and began 
to farm. Fort Utah — for so it was called — was the usual clus- 
ter of log houses surrounded by a stockade. In the middle 
arose a block-house, upon which a cannon was mounted. t 

Sanpete Valley had been explored during the previous 
August, by William W. Phelps, Joseph Home, and others. 
They entered the valley through Salt Creek Canyon, and were 
entertained in a most friendly manner by the Indians. In the 
following November a company of about fifty families, from 
Salt Lake City and Centerville, were led by Isaac Morley, 
Charles Shumway, Seth Taft, and Nelson Higgins, to the pres- 
ent site of Manti, where they formed the first settlement in 
that part. About the same time Tooele Valley began to be 
occupied, Phineas R. Wright, John Rowberry, and Cyrus Tol- 
man being the earliest to settle there. 

Southern Utah Explored — Counties Organized. — During 
December, 1849, Parley P. Pratt, with fifty men, explored 
southern Utah, as far as the junction of the Rio Virgen and 
Santa Clara rivers. This party, on its return, indicated a place 
in Little Salt Lake Valley where, a year later, George A. 

*Twenty years passed, after the settlement of Salt Lake Valley, 
before the United States land laws were fully extended over this re- 
gion; though a Surveyor-General was appointed for Utah and tracts 
of land surveyed under his authority as early as 18SS. The Pioneers 
distributed their lots and fields by ballot, each city lot costing its 
holder one dollar and a half, with small fees for surveying and record- 
ing. Under the Provisional Government, a "right of occupancy" was 
issued by the State which was to answer the purpose of a title until 
the General Government surveyed the lands and put them on the 
market. 

tThe Pioneers brought a cannon with them to Salt Lake Valley, 
and several pieces of artillery came in the companies that followed. 
Two brass cannon, purchased at Sutter's Fort by "Mormon" Battalion 
men, at a cost of over five hundred dollars, ware brought to Deseret 
and donated for the general defense. 



THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 67 

Smith with a colony located the town of Parowan. All these 
movements were directed by the Church authorities, or by the 
General Assembly of Deseret. That body, during the winter 
of 1849-1850, created the counties of Salt Lake, Weber, Utah, 
Sanpete, Tooele and Juab. Juab County was then unoccu- 
pied. 

Indian Troubles Begin — The Battle Creek Fight.— Up to 
that time there had been no serious trouble with the Indians, 
barring a hot skirmish on Battle Creek, where Colonel John 
Scott, with thirty or forty mounted men, severely punished a 
band of renegades who had been stealing horses and cattle 
from herds ranging in Salt Lake and Tooele valleys. Battle 
Creek (now Pleasant Grove) took its name from this fight, 
which occurred early in March, 1849. 

Nothing in that episode seems to have disturbed the 
friendly relations existing between the settlers and the princi- 
pal Ute chieftains. Sowiette and Walker — such were their 
names* — had visited Salt Lake Valley the year before, and 
invited their "white brothers" to come among them and teach 
them how to till the soil and become civilized. It was in re- 
sponse to this invitation, repeated in the summer of 1849, that 
the settlement in Sanpete Valley was formed. Chief Walker 
himself acting as guide for the exploring party. Moreover, he 
invited Governor Young to send colonies farther south. But 
all the savages did not see eye to eye upon these propositions, 
or else some of them changed their minds, with or without suf- 
ficient cause. 

Fort Utah Besieged. — For several months after Fort Utah 
was built, the Indians on Provo River remained peaceable and 
friendly. Then came a change ; they began to steal grain from 
the fields, and cattle and horses from the herds. Now and then 
an arrow from an Indian bow would fall uncomfortably near 
some settler while out gathering wood in the river bottoms. 
Gradually matters grew worse ; the inhabitants of the fort 
were fired upon as they issued from the stockade, and finally 
it was virtually in a state of siege. The people bore these an- 
noyances patiently until nearly spring, and then sent word to 
Governor Young at Salt Lake City. The word came from 
Isaac Higbee, who was then in charge of the colony. f 

■These names are also spelled Sau-ee-ett and Wahker or Walkara, 
in various records. 

tOne cause of the trouble, as reported to Governor Young several 
years later, was the killing of an Indian chief, "Old Bishop," in a quar- 
rel with three men from the Fort, one of whom laid claim to a shirt 
which the chief was wearing, and which he said he had purchased. 
The Indian drew his bow, and was shot dead by one of his assailants. 
His tribesmen, after finding the body, began the depredations com- 
plained of by the settlers. 



68 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Governor Young's Quandary — Captain Stansbury Con- 
sulted. — The Governor faced what he deemed a delicate sit- 
uation. Fort Utah must be relieved, and at once; but to 
violence and bloodshed he was much opposed. Moreover, he 
had to consider how the Government at Washington would re- 
gard such a proceeding, and what effect it would have upon 
Deseret's petition for statehood. Fortunately there was a Gov- 
ernment officer near, who could be consulted — Captain Stans- 
bury, whose engineers, while operating around Utah Lake, had 
been interfered with by the Indians. Governor Young, after 
conferring with Captain Stansbury, decided to send an armed 
force against the savage marauders. The Captain not only 
approved the plan, but helped to fit out the expedition. He 
permitted Lieutenant Howland, of the Mounted Rifles, to act 
as adjutant, and Doctor Blake as surgeon, of the expedition. 
He also furnished tents and camp equipage for the soldiers. 

Minute Men to the Front. — Fifty "minute men," com- 
manded by Captain George D. Grant, and fifty more under 
Major Andrew Lytle, set out for the scene of the trouble. The 
weather was extremely cold, and the hard crusted snow lay 
nearly two feet deep in the valleys. Progress was difficult. 
After marching nearly all night, before daybreak on the morn- 
ing of February 8th the two companies of cavalry arrived at 
Provo River. They found the settlers in their fort on the south 
side of the stream, and the Indians a mile or two above, 
strongly entrenched among willows and timber in the river 
bottom. Near their breastwork, which was built of felled cot-, 
tonwood trees, was a double log house, deserted by a family 
that had taken refuge in the fort. This house was now held by 
the savages — seventy-five or a hundred warriors, under Chiefs 
Old Elk and Ope-carry. Captain Peter W. Conover, the fort 
commander, united his men with those from Salt Lake City, 
and took a position about half a mile southwest of the Indian 
breastwork. 

The Provo River Battle. — A battle ensued lasting two 
days. The Indians fought stubbornly, and for a time all ef- 
forts to dislodge them were futile. They killed Joseph Hig- 
bee, son of Isaac Higbee, and wounded several others of the at- 
tacking force. Cannon were used against them, but with little 
effect, as they were protected by the river bank, and most of 
the shots passed harmlessly over. Thrusting their gun barrels 
through the frozen snow on the bank above them, they would 
lift their heads long enough to take aim, and then discharge 
volleys at their assailants. On the second day a cavalry charge, 
led by Lieutenant William H. Kimball, and in which Lot 
Smith and Robert T. Burton figured prominently, captured the 



THE PROVISIONAL STATE OF DESERET. 69 

double log house, from the windows and crevices of which the 
savages had kept up an almost incessant fire. At the sugges- 
tion of Lieutenant Rowland, a barricade of planks, shaped like 
a V, was constructed and placed on runners. This barricade, 
overlaid with brush and pointed toward the enemy, concealed 
a dozen men. who pushed it toward the Indian stronghold. 
The dusky inmates, seeing the strange object approach, quick- 
ly divined its purpose and decided to retreat. They redoubled 
their fire until night-fall, and then, under cover of the dark- 
ness, withdrew. 

General Wells in the Field. — Next morning General Wells 
arrived, and preparations were made to renew the attack be- 
fore it was discovered that the Indians had gone. Some of 
them were pursued up Rock Canyon, and others — the main 
body — to the south end of Utah Lake, where a fight took place 
on the ice. General Wells commanding in person. The hostiles 
were all but annihilated. Their loss included Old Elk, who 
died in Rock Canyon of wounds received during the two days' 
battle on the Provo.* 

Predatory Shoshones — General Eldredge. — In September 
of the same year a band of Shoshones, angered by harsh treat- 
ment experienced at the hands of passing emigrants, began a 
series of raids upon the settlements adjacent to Weber and 
Ogden rivers. They pastured their ponies in the grain fields, 
stole corn and melons, and ran ofif cattle and horses, until their 
conduct became unbearable. At Brownsville (Ogden) Urban 
Stewart fired upon some Indian night-raiders, with fatal efifect 
as to one of them ; and next day the savages retaliated by kill- 
ing a man named Campbell, at the same time threatening 
Brownsville with assault and massacre. The situation being 
reported to militia headquarters, a detachment of cavalry under 
General Horace S. Eldredge was hurried to the scene. As the 
militia advanced, the Indians retired, moving northward and 
taking with them cattle and horses belonging to the settlers. 
This closed the incident, which was the final Indian trouble 
dealt with by the authorities of the State of Deseret. 

Notable Acts of the Provisional Government. — It was the 

Provisional Government that created the University of Utah, 
originally the University of Deseret. which received its charter 
in February. 1850. In' January. 1851. the General Assembly 
chartered the cities of Salt Lake. Ogden. Provo, Manti, and 
Parowan. The Legislature forbade bv law the sale or gift of 



*Efforts were made to civilize the captured squaws and papooses, 
whose male protectors had fallen, but without avail. They lived with 
the settlers during the winter, and then sought their native wilds. 



70 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

arms, ammunition or liquor to the Indians. Liquor was man- 
ufactured and sold for medical and domestic uses, but saloons 
and all dens of vice were prohibited. The Government of the 
State of Deseret continued until April, 1851, when it was 
merged into the Government of the Territory of Utah. 



VIII. 

THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 

1850-1853. 

Boundary Lines. — Congress denied Deseret's prayer for 
Statehood, and organized the Territory of Utah ; California at 
the same time being- admitted into the Union. Utah was 
bounded on the west by the State of California, on the north 
by the Territory of Oregon, on the east by the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains, and on the south by the thirty-seventh par- 
allel of north latitude. This cut off the strip of seacoast in- 
cluded in the proposed State of Deseret, but still left the Terri- 
tory an area of 225,000 square miles. The character of the 
country thus enclosed caused Senator Seddon, of Virginia, to 
remark that it "had been abandoned to the Mormons for its 
worthlessness." 

Colonel Babbitt, delegate and proposed representative 
from the State of Deseret, on arriving at the City of Washing- 
ton late in 1849, had sought the earliest opportunity to deliver 
the public documents of which he was the bearer. The State 
Constitution and memorial for admission were placed in the 
hands of Senator Douglas, who presented them in the upper 
house of Congress during December. Later they were referred 
to the Senate Committee on Territories. About the same time 
a memorial signed by William Smith, Isaac Sheen, and other 
apostate "Mormons" was submitted to that body. This mem- 
orial set up the claim that its signers were the legitimate pres- 
idents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and 
asserted that fifteen hundred "Mormons," prior to the exodus 
from Nauvoo, had sworn an oath of eternal hostility to the 
United States Government. 

Opposition to Statehood. — The Committee on Elections of 
the House of Representatives, after considering Colonel Bab- 
bitt's application for a seat in that body, reported a resolution 
containing this sentence: "The admission of Mr. Babbitt 
would be a quasi recognition of the legal existence of the State 
of Deseret; and no act should be done by this body which, 
even by imputation, may give force and vitality to a political 
organization extra-constitutional and independent of the laws 
of the United States." The House adopted the resolution by 
a majority vote, and Colonel Babbitt was denied admission. 

Creation of the Territory. — The Senate, after a delay of 
nearly nine months, passed a bill providing for the organiza- 



72 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



tion of the Territory of Utah. Two days later this bill passed 
the House, and was approved by President Millard Fillmore. 
It was signed by him on the 9th of September, 1850, but the 

news did not reach Salt Lake City 
until the 27th of January, 185 L 
Even then it did not come direct- 
ly or in an official way, but hav- 
ing been published in Eastern pa- 
pers and carried across the Isth- 
mus and up to San Francisco, 
along with the tidings of Cali- 
fornia's admission, it was brought 
to Utah by a returning mission- 
ary.* 

Federal Appointees. — While 
disappointed at the denial of their 
petition, and feeling that Con- 
gress had been partial to the peo- 
ple of California, the citizens of 
Utah made the best of the situa- 
tion, and were not without feel- 
ings of gratitude toward the Ad- 
ministration, for its consideration 
in the matter of Federal ap- 
pointees. Brigham Young, Governor of Deseret by popular 
vote, was now Governor of Utah by presidential appointment ; 
and three other prominent "Mormons" were likewise com- 
missioned to represent the United States in this Territory. 
The full list of the Federal officers was as follows: Brigham 
Young, Governor; Joseph Buffington, Chief Justice; Perry E. 
Brocchus and Zerubbabel Snow, Associate Justices; Seth M. 
Blair, Attorney ; and Joseph L. Heywood, Marshal. Three 
Indian agents were also named — Jacob H. Holman, Henry R. 
Day, and Stephen B. Rose. 

The Governor, the Attorney, and the Marshal were resi- 
dents of Salt Lake City. Judge Snow was living in Ohio, but 
had relatives in Utah. Secretary Harris was from Vermont, 
and Judge Brocchus from Alabama. Chief Justice Buffing- 
ton, a Pennsylvanian, declined his appointment, and Lemuel 
G. Brandebury, of the same State, was appointed in his stead. 




PRESIDENT FILLMORE. 



*That missionary was Henry E. Gibson. He had gone west with 
Charles C. Rich, George Q. Cannon and others, in the autumn of 1849. 
They were the first Utah men to pass over "The Southern Route," the 
trail now covered by the San Pedro Los Angeles and Salt Lake Rail- 
road. Gibson brought to Salt Lake City a copy of the New York Trib- 
une, containing a list of President Fillmore's appointments for this 
Territory. 



THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 73 

The Indian agents were also from outside the Territory. All 
these officers — four "Mormons" and six "Gentiles" — were 
nominated soon after the passage of the Organic Act. Gover- 
nor Young's commission, signed by President Fillmore and 
attested by Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, was dated 
September 28, 1850.* 

State and Territorial Government. — Americans love to 
govern themselves. For that reason the founders of Utah 
preferred a State to a Territorial form of government, though 
the cost of maintaining it would have been greater.f The peo- 



*The Governor, Secretary, Judges, Attorney, and Marshal were to 
hold_ office for four years and until their successors were elected and 
qualified, unless sooner removed by the power that appointed them. 
Each officer, before beginning his labors, was required to take oath or 
affirmation before a magistrate, to support the Constitution of the 
United States, and faithfully discharge the duties of his office. All acts 
of the Legislature had to receive the approving signature of the Gov- 
ernor before going into effect as laws. The Governor held authority 
to commission all officers appointed under those laws, and it was his 
duty, as Chief Executive of the Territory, to see that the laws were en- 
forced and justice administered. He also had power to grant pardons 
and reprieves. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Militia, and Super- 
intendent of Indian Affairs. The duty of the Secretary was to keep a 
record of all laws and proceedings of the Legislature, all official acts 
and proceedings of the Governor, and to send copies of the same an- 
nually to the President and to Congress. As usual in the case of Ter- 
ritories, Congress reserved the right to disapprove and annul any act 
passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor. In the ab- 
sence of the Governor, the Secretary could perform all the duties of 
the Executive office. 

Utah was divided into three judicial districts, and over each a Fed- 
eral Judge was to preside and hold court therein; the three judges to 
constitute the Supreme Bench of the Territory. The Attorney and the 
Marshal were to attend to all United States business in or oertaining 
to the District and Supreme Courts. There were also probate courts, 
one for each county, and lesser tribunals presided over by justices of 
the peace. 

The Governor's salary was fifteen hundred dollars a year, with an 
additional one thousand dollars for his services in the Indian Depart- 
ment. He was also allowed one thousand dollars annually for contin- 
gent expenses of the Territory. The Secretary and the three Judges 
were each to receive eighteen hundred dollars a year, while the Attor- 
ney and the Marshal, in addition to their small salaries, were to be paid 
fees for services rendered. The Secretary had at his disposal money to 
meet the expenses of the Legislature, which was composed of thirteen 
councilors and twenty-six representatives, each of whom was to re- 
ceive three dollars a day, with mileage, during attendance at the ses- 
sions. These were to be held annually, and each was to be limited to 
forty days. 

tA State pays its own expenses, including the salaries of its offi- 
cer.s; while in a Territory the officers, appointed by the President, draw 
their salaries from the National Treasury. The General Government 
also defrays the expenses of the Territorial Legislature, but the Gov- 
ernor of Utah could prevent any act of the Legislature from becoming 
a law, by withholding from it his signature. The power so to nullify 



74 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

pie of Deseret were denied Statehood because Congress 
deemed them unprepared to assume its rsponsibilities. The 
reason, more plainly stated, was the intense prejudice exist- 
ing against the "Mormon" people and their religion. 

Public Sentiment Over Governor Young's Appointment — 
His Installation. — The selection of Brigham Young for Gov- 
ernor was much criticised in many places, but it gave gen- 
eral satisfaction in Utah. The "Gentiles" then in the Ter- 
ritory were among those who commended the appointment. 
Captain Stansbury regarded it as "a measure dictated alike by 
justice and by sound policy." The President's act won for him 
the gratitude of the entire "Mormon" community.* 

Governor Young was absent when the news of his ap- 
pointment reached Salt Lake City, but next day, while return- 
ing from a tour of the northern settlements, he was met near 
Farmington by General Wells, who saluted him as Governor 
of Utah and at the head of a company of cavalry escorted him 
to the city, amid firing of cannon and other demonstrations 
of rejoicing. He took the oath of office on the 3rd of February, 
before the Chief Justice of Deseret. 

Provisional Government Dissolved. — On the 26th of 
March, Governor Young addressed a special message to the 
General Assembly, suggesting such arrangements as would 



the acts of the people's representatives, was called the absolute veto 
power. Needless to say it was hateful to the majority of the citizens. 
In a State, if two-thirds of each branch of the Legislative Assembly 
vote to pass an act over the Governor's veto, it then becomes a law 
without his signature. A State may send two Senators and one or 
more Representatives to Congress. Formerly these Senators were 
chosen by the Legislature, and the Representatives by the citizens at 
large; the number of representatives being determined by population. 
Now the United States Senators are elected by the peonle. A Terri- 
tory may send a Delegate to Congress, who sits in the House of Rep- 
resentatives, but has no vote, and can speak only by permission of the 
other members, even upon questions affecting the Territory from 
which he comes. Statehood is usually given to the people requesting 
it when they become numerous and wealthy enough to support the 
higher form of government. 

*President Fillmore had been influenced in his choice for Governor 
by Colonel Thomas L. Kane, to whom he referred, after his act was 
questioned, for explanations and the refutation of certain charges 
made against Brigham Young. The Colonel reiterated his former state- 
ment of the Governor's "excellent capacity, energy and integrity," and 
testified also to his patriotism. In this connection he mentioned the 
enlistment of the Mormon Battalion, and said to the Chief Magistrate: 
"It happens felicitously enough for the purpose of the accusation be- 
fore you, that Brigham Young was the man of all others whose in- 
fluence carried that measure through with the Church. It was his 
.American flag that was brought out to float over those hills for the first 
time; his drums beat, and his brave American speeches rang through 
the hearts of the people." 



THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 75 

render convenient a transition from the Provisional to the 
Territorial form of government. Acting promptly upon this 
suggestion, the Assembly, in joint session, passed a resolu- 
tion appointing the 5th of April as the time for the change to 
go into effect.* As a matter of fact, however, the Provisional 
Government "held over," until the machinery of the Terri- 
torial Government got into full operation, which was later in 
the year. 

First Territorial Election — Technical Irregularities. — This 
change made desirable the early election of the Territorial 
Legislature. It was necessary, also, to choose the Delegate to 
Congress in time to enable him to cross the plains before the 
winter storms set in. Governor Young, prior to the election, 
caused "a. census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the sev- 
eral counties and districts of the Territory to be taken;" a 
work completed on the 26th of June. The returns, which were 
from Great Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, Sanpete, Iron, 



*The resolution, which was passed March 28, 1851, read as fol- 
lows: 

"Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Deseret 

"1. That we cheerfully and cordially accept the legislation of Con- 
gress in the Act to establish a Territorial Government for Utah. 

"2. That we welcome the Constitution of the United States — the 
legacy of our fathers — over this Territory. 

"3. That all officers under the Provisional State Government of 
Deseret are hereby requested to furnish unto their successors in office 
every facility in their power, by returning and delivering unto them 
public documents, laws, ordinances, and dockets, that may or can be 
of any use or benefit to their said successors in office. 

"4. That Union Square, in Great Salt Lake City, be devoted for 
the use of public buildings of said Territory. 

"5. That Governor B. Young be our agent to make drafts upon 
the treasury of the United States for the amount appropriated for said 
bi;ildings, and to take such other measures as he shall deem proper for 
Iheir immediate erection. 

"6. That we appoint an architect to draft designs, and a commit- 
tee of one, to superintend the erection of said buildings. 

"7. That Truman O. Angell, of said city, be said architect, and 
Daniel H. Wells, of said city, the committee; and that they proceed 
immediately to the designing and erection of said buildings. 

"8. That, whereas, the State House in Great Salt Lake City hav- 
ing been originally designed for a "Council House," and erected by and 
at the expense of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for 
the purpose, as well as to accommodate the Provisional Government: 
that we do now relinquish unto said Church the aforesaid building, 
tpnclering unto them our thanks for the free use thereof during tlie 
past session. 

"9. That we fix upon Saturday, the fifth day of April next, for the 
adjustment and final dissolving of the General Assembly of the State 
of Deseret. 

"H. C. Kimball, President of the Council. 
"J. AT. Grant, Speaker of the House." 



76 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



and Tooele Counties, and from Green River Precincc, gave a 
total of 11,354 souls, excluding Indians, and including twelve 
colored free males and an equal number of colored free fe- 
males, who were passing through the Territory. 

The Governor next apportioned the membership of the 
Council and the House of Representatives, and issued a proc- 
lamation appointing Monday, August 4th, 1851, as the time 
for holding the election. It was held accordingly.* 

These proceedings were somewhat irregular. The enu- 
meration of inhabitants was not returned upon regular census 
blanks, which had not arrived from Washington ; and the 
Governor's proclamation apportioning the Legislative repre- 
sentation, was without the signature and seal of the Secre- 
tary, who had not yet appeared 
upon the scene. But the ac- 
tion taken was deemed neces- 
sary, in order to prevent fur- 
ther delay : the greater part of 
a year having gone b)^ already, 
since the Territory was organ- 
ized and its Federal officers 
appointed. 

Delegate Bernhisel. — The 
man chosen to represent Utah 
in Congress was Dr. John M. 
Rernhisel, of Salt Lake City, a 
gentleman of culture, well 
versed in the science of gov- 
ernment, and a graduate from 
the medical department of the 
University of Pennsylvania. 
While there he had numbered 
among his classmates and per- 
sonal friends, Simon Cameron, 
JOHN M. BERNHISEL. the scnior United States Sen- 

ator from Pennsylvania, Bernhisel's native State. He was also 
intimately acquainted with Thaddeus Stevens and other states- 
men. In national politics Dr. Bernhisel was a Whig, but be- 




*Great Salt Lake County elec 
resentatives; Utah County, two C 
Weber County, two Councilors 
County, one Councilor and three 
Councilor and two Representativ 
and one Representative; Tooele 
County had no representation, 
settler in that part was Joseph L. 
(Nephi) in September, 1851. 



ted six Councilors and thirtee.i Rep- 
ouncilors and three Representatives; 

and three Representatives; Davis 

Representatives; Iron County, one 
es; Sanpete County, one Councilor 

County, one Representative. Juab 
being still unoccupied. The first 

Heywood, who founded Salt Creek 



THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 77 

came Delegate by the united vote of the people, Utan having 
no political parties at that time. 

Federal Officers from the East — Assignments. — Of the 
Federal officers from the East, the first to arrive in the Terri- 
tory was Chief Justice Brandebury, who reached Salt Lake 
City on the 7th of June, nearly two months before the election. 
A ball and supper were given in his honor at the Warm 
Springs Building, a newly erected amusement hall in the north- 
ern suburb of the town. Secretary Harris and Judge Snow 
came in the latter part of July, and Judge Brocchus about the 
middle of August. The latter, with Orson Hyde and others, 
had been waylaid and robbed by Pawnee Indians while cross- 
ing the plains. Secretary Harris brought with him from Wash- 
ington the sum of $24,000, appropriated by Congress for the 
Utah Legislature; and Colonel Babbitt, who returned at the 
same time, brought $20,000, the Congressional appropriation 
for the erection of public buildings in the Territory. 

Governor Young, on the 8th of August, assigned the three 
Judges to their respective districts. Chief Justice Brandebury 
was given the First District, comprising Salt Lake and Tooele 
counties, with the adjacent country east and west to the bound- 
aries of the Territory; Associate Justice Snow the Second Dis- 
trict, comprising Davis and Weber counties, with adjacent 
country east, west and north; and Associate Justice Brocchus 
the Third District, embracing the counties of Utah, Sanpete 
and Iron, with adjacent parts east, west, and south. Al- 
ready, as Indian Superintendent, the Governor had divided the 
Territory into three agencies, Parowan, Pauvan, and Uintah, 
assigning to them severally Chief Agent Holman and Sub- 
Agents Day and Rose. 

The Territorial Legislature. — The Legislative Assembly 
of the Territory of Utah convened in its first session at Salt 
Lake City, on the 22nd of September, 1851. The personnel was 
as follows : Members of the Council : Heber C. Kimball, Wil- 
lard Richards, Daniel H. Wells, Jedediah M. Grant, Ezra T. 
Benson, Orson Spencer, John S. Fullmer, Lorin Farr, Charles 
R. Dana, Alexander Williams, Aaron Johnson, Isaac Morley, 
George A. Smith. Members of the House: Wilford Wood- 
rufif, David Fullmer, Daniel Spencer, Willard Snow, William 
W. Phelps. Albert P. Rockwood, Nathaniel H. Felt, Edwin D. 
Woolley, Phinehas Richards, Joseph Young, Henry G. Sher- 
wood, Benjamin F. Johnson, Hosea Stout, Andrew Lam- 
oreaux, John Stoker, William Kay, James Brown, David B. 
Dille, Tames G. Browning, John Rowberry, David Evans, Wil- 
liam Miller, Levi W. Hancock, Charles Shumway, Elisha 
Groves, and George Brimhall. Two of the Councilors, Ezra T. 
Benson and Jedediah M. Grant, resigned later in September to 



78 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

go East, and Orson Pratt and Edward Hunter were elected on 
the 15th of November to take their places. At the same time 
John Brown succeeded Willard Snow as a Representative. 

The Legislature organized by electing Willard Richards 
President of the Council, and William W. Phelps Speaker of 
the House. A joint resolution, adopted on the 4th of October, 
declared all laws of the State of Deseret, such as did not con- 
flict with the Organic Act, to be of full force and effect in the 
Territory of Utah. This action of the Legislature preserved 
the charters granted to the several cities and to the University 
of Deseret. 

Location of the Capital. — It had been designed to locate 
the Territorial capital at Salt Lake City ; Union Square having 




STATE HOUSE AT FILLMORE.* 

been offered as a site for the proposed public buildings. But 
now it was decided to choose a more central location ; and this 
led to the creation of the County of Millard and the City of 
Fillmore, both named in honor of the President of the United 
States. Preliminary to that event, Anson Call was sent with a 



*This State House was begun, but never completed. The Legisla- 
ture held but one full session at Fillmore (1855-1856). Several suc- 
ceeding Legislatures met there in order to conform to the law, but 
immediately adjourned to Salt Lake City, where they could do their 
work more conveniently. Finally the capital was legally moved to this 
city. Its location in Central Utah was found to be a mistake, the 
greater part of the population being in the northern counties. 



THE TERRITORY (3F UTAH. 79 

company to Chalk Creek, in Paiivan Valley, where, on the 
29th of October, under the direction of Governor Young and a 
committee appointed by the Legislature, the capital was laid 
out and a site for the State House selected. 

Discontented Officials. — Judge Brocchus, if report did not 
belie him. surveyed his duties in Utah a disappointed man. 
It was believed and asserted that he desired to represent the 
Territory in Congress, and was chagrined at learning, while on 
the way to Salt Lake City, that the election for Delegate had 
already taken place. He did not even visit his district, and 
from the first gave evidence of dissatisfaction. 

Chief Justice Brandebury and Secretary Harris were in 
sympathy with Brocchus. The three had been but a short time 
in Utah when they announced their intention of returning to 
the East. They complained of the smallness of their salaries, 
which Congress had fixed in the Organic Act. An effort was 
made to remove this cause of discontent; a petition asking for 
an increase in those salaries being signed by Governor Young 
and other citizens and sent to Washington. Still the Judges 
and the Secretary adhered to their determination. Governor 
Young then called upon them in person, expressing regret 
over their intended departure, and endeavoring to dissuade 
them from their purpose ; but without avail. They were get- 
ting ready to leave, and Indian Agent Day was preparing to 
go with them. 

Judge Brocchus and Governor Young. — Before leaving 
Utah, Judge Brocchus, in a public meeting, took occasion to 
criticize conditions in the Territory, and to censure some of the 
leading men for utterances construed by him as unfriendly to 
the Federal Government. His most offensive remark was 
one reflecting upon the virtue of the women of the commu- 
nity. This scurrilous fling awoke a storm of indignation. The 
congregation arose en masse, and the orator, unable to make 
himself heard above the din he had created, took his seat. Gov- 
ernor Young calmed the tumult and answered, denying that 
the people of Utah were unfriendly to the Government, and 
affirming their loyalty and devotion to American principles. 
As President of the Church, and in behalf of the women as- 
sailed, he severely reprimanded the fault-finding magistrate, 
and informed him that he had never had the honor of address- 
ing a more virtuous assemblage.* 

*Judge Brocchus had requested from President Young the privi- 
lege of addressing this meeting, wliich was a session of the General 
Conference of the Latter-day Saints, held in the "Old Bowery," on 
Temple Block. Judge Brandebury and Secretary Harris were also pres- 
ent and had seats upon the stand. Brocchus, according to his own 
statement, was "respectfully and honorably introduced" by the "Mor- 



80 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

In a correspondence that ensued, Judge Brocchus dis- 
claimed any intent to insult the women of Utah, and affirmed 
that he had said nothing "deserving the censure of a just- 
minded person." President Young, in reply, told him that he 
had insulted not only the women, but the men, and in charg- 
ing them with "a spirit of defection toward the Government," 
he was either "profoundly ignorant or wilfully wicked." That 
his speech had been deliberately planned, the Judge admitted, 
and that it was worded with a view to its effect in the East, 
rather than in Utah, was the general belief of those who 
heard him. 

Secretary and Legislature.— Learning that Secretary Har- 
ris intended to take with him the funds appropriated by Con- 
gress for the Legislature, also the Territorial seal, with various 
records and documents. Governor Young endeavored to pre- 
vent what he considered an illegal act on the part of that func- 
tionary. Summoning the Legislature, he laid the facts before 
them, and a resolution was passed directing the United States 
Marshal to take into custody all Government funds and prop- 
erty in charge of the Secretary. The Marshal was also in- 
structed to present to him for payment an order for five hun- 
dred dollars, covering the incidental expenses of the Assembly. 

Mr. Harris refused to honor these requisitions. He con- 
tended that the election of the Legislature was illegal, and 
claimed to have private instructions not to pay out any funds, 
unless such action were strictly legal according to his own 
judgment. The Judges, when appealed to, held that the Sec- 
retary was amenable only to the United States Government 
for the manner in which he discharged his duties. It trans- 
pired that Judges Brandebury and Brocchus had organized the 
Supreme Court and held a session, without waiting for the 
Governor and Legislature to fix time and place, and had 
granted an injunction to prevent any one acting under the au- 



mon" leader. His insult to the women was couched in the following 
language: "I have a commission from the Washington Monument As- 
sociation, to ask of you a block of marble as the test of your loyalty to 
the Government of the United States. But in order for you to do it 
acceptably you must become virtuous, and teach your daughters to be- 
come virtuous, or your offering had better remain in the bosom of your 
native mountains." 

The people of Utah had not waited for the coming of Judge Broc- 
chus, before taking appropriate action in this matter. In February, 
1851, before the dissolution of the Provisional Government, the Gen- 
eral Assembly had passed a resolution providing that a block of native 
marble be prepared for the purpose indicated, and in compliance with 
that resolution, a block of native oolite (no marble being quarried here 
that early) was suitably carved and lettered by William Ward, a local 
sculptor, and forwarded to the national capital, as Utah's contribution 
lo the Washington Monument. 



THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 81 

thority of the body "purporting to be the Legislative Assem- 
bly of the Territory" from interfering with said funds and 
property. From this decision Judge Snow dissented, on the 
ground that the session was illegal. 

Governor Young to President Fillmore. — In anticipation 
of an unfriendly report to the national authorities, Governor 
Young, the day after the departure of the two Judges and the 
Secretary, addressed a communication to the President of the 
United States, in which his own course as Executive and the 
conduct of the retiring officers were set forth in detail. He 
assured the President that he intended to discharge faithfully 
every duty of his office, and would take the liberty of report- 
ing, in behalf of the absent Secretary, the acts and doings of 
the Legislative Assembly, which was still in session. In con- 
clusion he stated that he would receive gratefully any instruc- 
tions that the Chief Magistrate might be pleased to give.* 

Charges of Sedition and Polygamy — The Grant Letters. — 
The returning Judges and Secretary, on arriving in Washing- 

*The Governor's communication to the President was dated Sep- 
tember 29, 1851. Answering objections raised by the Secretary relative 
to the recent election, he maintained that the enumeration of inhabit- 
ants, made without the use of regular census blanks, had met the re- 
quirements of the Organic Act, and explained that the reason why the 
Governor's proclamation apportioning the representation did not re- 
ceive the signature and seal of the Secretary, was because that officer 
had not then arrived, and it was imperative that matters should pro- 
ceed without further delay. Then followed this paragraph: 

"It has been and is said of myself and of the people over whom I 
have the honor to preside, that they frequently indulge in strictures 
upon the acts of men who are entrusted with Governmental affairs, and 
that the Government itself does not wholly escape. Now, sir, I will 
simply state what I know to be true. * * * No people exist who 
are more friendly to the Government of the United States than the peo- 
ple of this Territory. The Constitution they revere, the laws they 
seek to honor. But the non-execution of those laws, in times past, for 
our protection, and the abuse of power in the hands of those entrusted 
therewith, * * * for this we have cause of complaint. * * * 
The foregoing is a case in point. What good and substantial reason 
can be given that the people of this Territory should be deprived, for 
probably nearly a year to come, of a Supreme Court, of the official seal, 
of a Secretary of State, of the official publication of the laws, and other 
matters pertaining to the office of Secretary? Is it true that officers 
coming here by virtue of an appointment by the President, have private 
instructions that so far control their actions as to induce the belief that 
their main object is not the strict and legal performance of their re- 
spective duties, but rather to watch for iniquity, to catch at shadows, 
and make a man 'an offender for a word'? * * * i cannot conceive 
that it can or ought to be in the power of any subordinate officer to 
subvert or even retard for any length of time the ordinary motion of 
the wheels of Government. * * * So far as the public interests are 
concerned, it would have been quite as well if neither of these gentle- 
men (Judges Brandebury and Brocchus) or Mr. Harris had ever trou- 
bled themselves to cross the plains." 



82 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



ton, reported that they had been "compelled to leave Utah on 
account of the lawless acts and seditious tendencies of Brig- 
ham Young and the majority of the residents." They charged 
Governor Young with a waste of public funds, meaning by this 
the proposed erection of the State House at Fillmore. They 
also referred to the existence of polygamy (plural marriage) 
in Utah, a fact that had given the cue to Judge Brocchus, when 
he offered his public insult to the women of the "Mormon" 
community. 

The communication of the three officials appeared in the 
New York Herald, January 10, 1852, and was off'set by a series 
of letters published, one in the Herald, and all in a pamphlet 
widely circulated, over the signature of Jedediah M. Grant, 
Mayor of Salt Lake City. Mayor Grant had been sent East 
to help Dr. Bernhisel counteract the efforts of the complaining 
ofificials at the seat of Government. The Grant letters were 
largely the product of the caustic and brilliant pen of Colonel 
Thomas L. Kane. Secretary Webster directed the "runaways" 
to return to their posts, or else resign. They chose the latter 
course. 

New Appointments Requested. — The Utah Legislature 
petitioned the Federal Government to fill the vacancies caused 
by these resignations, and requested that the new appointees 
be residents of Utah, and that they be selected as soon as possi- 
ble. Pending action upon the 
petition, Governor Young ap- 
pointed Willard Richards Sec- 
retary of Utah, pro tem. 

Associate Justice Snow — 
Utah's First Federal Court.— 
To meet in some degree the 
emergency . that had arisen. 
Judge Snow was authorized by 
the Legislature to hold court in 
all the districts. At the same 
time certain changes were 
made in the boundaries of 
those districts. Sessions of 
court were to be held at Salt 
Lake City, Provo, Manti, Fill- 
more and Parowan ; these pro- 
visions to remain in force until 
the President and Senate of the 
United States, who were duly 
yjiT^n^ c^Tr^«r informed of all that was done, 

JUDGE SNOW. 1 u 1 r 11 1 i r 

should supply a full bench of 
the Supreme Court of the Territory. 




THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 83 

The first United States Court ever held in Utah was 
opened by Judge Zerubbabel Snow at Salt Lake City. He ex- 
amined and passed upon the proceedings of the Governor, in 
calling the Legislature, holding them to be legal, though some- 
what informal. His decision was reported to and sustained by 
the United States Department of State, which also sanctioned 
the appointment of a temporary Secretary. The bills signed 
by Mr. Richards, as well as his salary for services in that ca- 
pacity, were allowed and paid by the Government.* 

New Counties — Probate Courts and their Jurisdiction. — ■ 

During the winter of 1851-1852, the Legislature created the 
counties of Iron and Washington, and provided for the com- 
plete organization of these and the counties previously exist- 
ing."!" In addition to the powers usually possessed by probate 
courts, such as the settlement of estates and the guardianship 
of minors, those now organized were given general civil and 
criminal jurisdiction, making them almost equal with the dis- 
trict courts, to which, however, there was the right of appeal. 
This extension of powers was deemed necessary at the time, 
owing to the absence of two of the three Federal judges, a sit- 
uation that threw too great a burden upon Judge Snow.t 

Territorial Attorney-General and Marshal. — Another Leg- 
islative enactment of that period created the offices of Terri- 
torial Attorney-General and Territorial Marshal. It was made 
the duty of these officers and their deputies to act for the 
Territory in all its legal business arising under the local laws, 
leaving to the United States Attorney and United States Mar- 



•■7"dge Snow presided at the first murder trial in Utah. It took 
place in the District Court at Salt Lake City. Howard Egan, a Pio- 
neer, had shot James Monroe, for seducing his wife, and Egan was 
tried and acquitted. The case was prosecuted by United States Attor- 
ney Seth M. Blair, and the defendant was represented by George A. 
Smith and William W. Phelps. 

"i"Probate Judges were elected by the Assembly and commissioned 
by the Governor, as follows: Salt Lake County, Elias Smith; Weber 
County, Isaac Clark; Davis County, Joseph Holbrook; Utah County, 
Preston Thomas; Tooele County, Alfred Lee; Juab County, George H. 
Bradley; Sanpete County, George Peacock; Millard County, Anson 
Call; Iron County, Chapman Duncan. 

lOwing to disagreements that soon arose, the Legislature contem- 
plated an amendment of its laws, so as to limit the jurisdiction of the 
probate courts; but the continued practice of many of the Federal 
judges of absenting themselves from the Territory for long periods, 
leaving litigants without recourse to their tribunals, caused matters 
to remain as they were. The final settlement of the controversy came 
with the enactment by Congress of the Poland Law (1874). limiting 
the jurisdiction of the lesser courts. 



84 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

shal that part of the public business arising under the Federal 
statutes.* 

Proclamation of Plural Marriage. — About this time the 
first public announcement was made by the Church in Utah 
of its belief in and practice of the principle of plural mar- 
riage, commonly called "polygamy." It had been intro- 
duced at Nauvoo, and practiced there by Joseph Smith, Brig- 
ham Young, and other prominent "Mormons;" and the insti- 
tution had been perpetuated during and after the migration of 
the people to the Rocky Mountains. But not until the 29th 
of August, 1852, were these facts openly proclaimed to the 
world. The occasion was a special conference of the Church; 
the place. Salt Lake City; and the speaker. Elder Orson Pratt, 
who, under direction from President Brigham Young, deliv- 
ered a discourse embodying the official announcement.! 



*The Comptroller of the United States Treasury, Hon. Elisha 
Whittlesey, had informed the Legislature, through Judge Snow, that 
the General Government would defray only the expense attendanc upon 
the settlement of United States business in the courts, and that the 
Territory must assume the cost of its own. From time to time there 
was friction between the two sets of officers provided, and this was one 
cause for the enactment of the Poland Law. 

tElder Pratt asserted the scriptural character of the doctrine of plur- 
ality of wives, and declared that the motive behind this form of mar- 
riage, both in ancient Israel and in modern or "Mormon" Israel, was 
not to gratify the carnal feelings of man, but to enable righteous men 
and women, in fulfillment of the divine command to "multiply and re- 
plenish the earth," and under sacred obligations, restrictions, and limi- 
tations, to raise up a healthier and more numerous posterity, to be 
taught and trained in the ways of truth and righteousness. In begin- 
ning his discourse the speaker affirmed the doctrine to be a part of the 
religious faith of the Latter-day Saints, and he maintained that its free 
exercise was guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. 

Says B. H. Roberts, in his History of the Mormon Church ("Amer- 
icana" for April, 1913): "It was time this action was taken. The Church 
owed it to frankness with the world to make the official proclamation; 
for many were in doubt in respect to knowing what course to pursue. It 
had been a matter of wide knowledge within the Church for some time 
that such a principle was believed in and practiced by many of the lead- 
ing Elders; and yet none to whom this knowledge had come in an official 
way, felt at liberty to make proclamation of the doctrine, neither was it 
their prerogative to do so; and in the absence of an official announcement 
it had become a profound source of embarrassment. Justice to the 
women involved in the system, moreover, no less than candor with the 
world, also required this official proclamation; for their standing must 
have become equivocal had it been much longer delayed. 

"As to the effect this proclamation had upon the work in general, 
men will differ in their opinions. That at the first it P'ave the oppo- 
nents of the work great advantage, may not be doubted; for from every 
foreign mission came reports of increased opposition resulting in many 
cases in mob violence. Indeed the reports of the 'run-away officers' — 
Brocchus, Day and Brandebury, and their charge of the practice of 
plural marriage in Utah, now confirmed by the official proclamation of 



THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 85 

Supplemental to the action taken at the Conference, Orson 
Pratt was sent to the City of Washington to establish and con- 
duct a periodical setting forth the doctrines of the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the plural wife 
doctrine. Accordingly he published at the national capital a 
paper called "The Seer," the first number of which made its ap- 
pearance in January, 1853.* 

Federal Vacancies Filled. — The Authorities at Washing- 
ton exercised due deliberation in filling the Federal vacancies 
in Utah. Eventually Lazarus H. Reed, of New York, was ap- 
pointed Chief Justice; Leonidas Shaver. Associate Justice; and 
Benjamin G. Ferris, Secretary. It was June, 1853, when the 
new Chief Justice made his appearance upon the streets of Salt 
Lake City. Concerning his reception Judge Reed said in a 
letter: "I waited on His Excellency, Governor Young, exhib- 
ited to him my commission, and by him was duly sworn and 



the doctrine and the practice of it, became the chief weapon in the 
hands of the opponents of the New Dispensation." 

A glance at "polygamy" in early Utah is given by Captain Stans- 
bury in his book, the "Expedition," which was published during the 
same year that the plural wife doctrine was proclaimed. He says: "If 
a man once married desires to take a second helpmate, he must first, as 
with us, obtain the consent of the lady intended, and that of her par- 
ents or guardians, and afterwards the aporoval of the Seer or Presi- 
dent, without which the matter cannot proceed. The woman is then 
'sealed' to him under the solemn sanction of the Church, and stands, in 
all respects, in the same relation to the man as the wife that was first 
married. The union thus formed is considered a perfectly virtuous and 
honorable one, and the lady maintains without blemish the same posi- 
tion in society to which she would be entitled were she the sole wife of 
her husband. * * * Purity of life, in all the domestic relations, is 
strenuously inculcated. * * * Upon the practical working of this 
system of plurality of wives, I can hardly be expected to express more 
than a mere opinion. * * * So far, however, as my intercourse with 
the inhabitants afforded me an opportunity of judging, its practical 
operation was quite different from what I had anticipated. Peace, har- 
mony, and cheerfulness seemed to prevail, where my preconceived 
notions led me to look for nothing but the exhibition of petty jealous- 
ies, envy, bickerings, and strife. Confidence and sisterly affection 
among tlie different members of the family seemed pre-eminently con- 
spicuous, and friendly intercourse among neighbors, with balls, parties, 
and merry-makings at each other's houses, formed a prominent and 
agreeable feature of the society. In these friendly reunions, the Pres- 
ident, with his numerous family, mingled freely, and was ever an hon- 
ored and welcome guest, tempering by his presence the exuberant hilar- 
ity of the young, and not unfrequently closing with devotional exercises 
the gaiety of a happy evening." 

*For a similar purpose, "The Mormon," with John Taylor as edi- 
tor and publisher, was established in New York City, issuing its first 
number in February, 1855. About the same time "The Luminary" was 
published in St. Louis by Erastus Snow, and a little later (1856) 
George Q. Cannon founded "The Western Standard" in San Francisco. 



86 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

installed as Chief Justice of Utah. I was received by Governor 
Young with marked courtesy and respect. He has taken pains 
to make my residence here agreeable." 

Judge Shaver and Secretary Ferris had arrived the year 
before. The coming of the two magistrates was a great relief 
to Judge Snow, who for many months had been doing the 
work of three. Each district now had its own Judge, and the 
Supreme Bench of the Territory was complete.* 

^Secretary Ferris was the first of the new officers to retire. He 
spent about six months in Utah, and then went to California. While 
here he collected materials for a book, "Utah and the Mormons," which 
he published in 1854. After his departure Willard Richards served an- 
other term as Secretary pro tem., and was succeeded by Almon W. 
Babbitt, who was appointed Secretary by the President of the United 
States. Chief Justice Reed and Associate Justice Shaver remained sev- 
eral years in the Territory, and were held in high esteem by all the 
citizens. 



IX. 
GROWTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 

1852-1854. 

Extension of Settlements — Enterprises and Improve- 
ments. — Five years the founders of Utah had been in the Great 
Basin. Wisely and well had they improved the time. Wher- 
ever a spring- of water bubbling up from some oasis in the des- 
ert, or the smallest stream flowing from the mountains, held 
out hope of agricultural success, there settlements had been 
formed or were in contemplation. From the neis^hborhood of 
Bear River on the north, a chain of towns and villages, encir- 
cled by farms and fields, extended southward for a distance of 
nearly four hundred miles. The northernmost point of civili- 
zation was Box Elder, the nucleus of Brigham City, then in 
Weber County; the most southern point, a ranch on Ash 
Creek, now the town of Harmony, Washington County. Set- 
tlements were also forming east and west of Salt Lake Val- 
ley. The beginnings of Carson County (now in Nevada) had 
l)een made, and the Green River country was about to be 
colonized.* 

Throughout Utah the erection of public buildings, the es- 
tal^lishment of educational, mercantile, and industrial enter- 
prises, and the increase and improvement of mail facilities, 
kept pace with the growth and extension of the settlements. 

First Government Mail Service. — The first regular mail 
service to Salt Lake City under a contract with the Federal 
Government, was conducted by Colonel Samuel H. Woodson, 
of Independence, Missouri, the eastern terminus of the route. 
It was a monthly service, and was started in July, 1850. Dur- 
ing the summer of 1851 Feramorz Little, a Utah man, began 



*In September, 1851, a Utah colony under Amasa M. Lyman and 
Charles C. Rich purchased and occupied the San Bernardino ranch in 
Southern California. This property, a grant to its original owners 
from the Government of Mexico, was situated about one hundred miles 
northward from the seaport of San Diego. It was acquired with a 
view to establishing an outfitting post for "Mormon" emigration from 
the West. The ranch comprised twenty square miles, costing the col- 
onists $77,500. A fort was built, a city laid out, municipal and ecclesi- 
astical governments were organized, and the surrounding country was 
explored and improved. The San Bernardino settlement was main- 
tained mitil the latter part of 1857, when all "Mormon" colonizing 
enterprises outside the Territory were abandoned. The old town is 
now thp flourishing City of San Bernardino. 



88 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



to carry the mail over a portion of this route, under a sub-con- 
tract from Colonel Woodson. Mr. Little's associates were 
Charles F. Decker and Ephraim K. Hanks. The eastern end 
of their division was Fort Laramie, where the carriers from 
east and west aimed to meet on the 15th of every month. At 
first only the mails were carried, but passenger traffic was soon 
added. Willard Richards was postmaster of Salt Lake City — 
the first one appointed by the Government. 

The Deseret News. — President Richards was also the 

first editor of the Deseret 
News. The pioneer journal of 
the Rocky Mountains began its 
career on the 15th of June, 1850. 
It was then a small quarto, is- 
sued weekly, and printed on a 
wrought-iron, Ramage hand- 
press, purchased in Philadel- 
phia and brought to Salt Lake 
Valley in one of the early im- 
migrations. The first home of 
the Deseret News was in a 
small one-story building on 
South Temple Street ; the same 
building that contained the 
Deseret Mint. The News oc- 
cupied one end of the humble 
though substantial adobe struc- 
ture, and the Mint the other. 

Early Schools — University 
of Deseret. — During that early 
formative period the cause of education was not neglected. 
Nearly every village had its day and Sabbath school, and the 
cities and towns their larger institutions of learning. Until 
schoolhouses could be built, tents and wagons were used as 
class rooms. Sawed-ofif pieces of log served for seats, and 
wooden paddles or shingles, upon which were pasted printed 
letters cut from newspapers, took the place of alphabet charts. 
Log and lumber school-houses were gradually superseded by 
buildings of adobe, brick, and stone. 

The University of Deseret, under the name of "The Par- 
ent School," threw open its doors for the enrollment of stu- 
dents in November, 1850. nine months after the institution 
had been chartered. The first term was held in an adobe 
house belonging to John Pack, the Pioneer, and situated in 
the Seventeenth Ward of Salt Lake City. The second term 
opened in the Council House, the upper floor of which had 
been let for that purpose. The first Chancellor of the Univer- 




PIONEER PRINTING PRESS. 



GROWTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 



89 



sity was Orson Spencer; the first instructor, Dr. Cyrus Col- 
lins, a sojourner in Utah, on his way to California.* 

Territorial Library — Social 
Hall.— In February, 1852, the 
Territorial Library, for which 
Congress had appropriated the 
sum of five thousand dollars, 
was opened in the Council 
House, with William C. Staines 
as Librarian. A large part of 
the Congressional appropria- 
tion had been expended in the 
East by Delegate Bernhisel, in 
the purchase of a choice selec- 
tion of books for the institu- 
tion 

During that year the So- 
cial Hall was built — the prin- 
cipal place of amusement in 
Utah until the erection of the 
Salt Lake Theatre. The Hall 
was opened on New Year's 
day, 1853 — not with a dramatic 
performance, but with "a orson spencer 

grand ball." The first play 
was presented on the evening of January 17th.t The Social 




*Later, Orson Spencer, William W. Phelps and Orson Pratt were 
the instructors. The school was supported by tuition. Its charter, 
granted by the Provisional Government, February 28, 1850, was ratified 
by the Territorial Legislature October 4, 1851. During the same year, 
owing to scant means and limited patronage, the department of in- 
struction was discontinued. The Chancellor and Board of Regents, 
however, were regularly elected by the Legislature, and continued to 
do good work in supervising the public schools. Sixteen years passed 
before the University re-opened. 

tThe play was "Don Caesar de Bazan," followed by a farce, "The 
Irish Lion." The players were members of the Deseret Dramatic 
Association. This, however, was not the beginning of Utah's dramatic 
history. As early as 1850 plays had been produced at "The Old Bow- 
ery," a primitive structure of timber and adobe then standing on the 
southeast corner of Temple Block. Next came the Musical and Dra- 
matic Company, followed by the Deseret Dramatic Association, the 
latter organized in 1851. This combination, after inaugurating the- 
atricals at the Social Hall, temporarily disbanded, and for a time the 
Mechanics Dramatic Association held sway. A reorganization of the 
Deseret Dramatic Association (including the Mechanics) took place 
before the opening of the Salt Lake Theatre in 1862. This Associa- 
tion, entirely of home people, became noted. They were not actors by 
profession, but played for their own entertainment and that of the 



90 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Hall was used at times by the Legislature, and some sessions 
of the District Court were also held there. At one time the 
Legislature and the District Court occupied the Hall simul- 




THE SOCIAL HALL. 



taneously; the Council sitting upon the stage, the House in 
the auditorium, and the Court in a room under the stage. 

The Old Tabernacle — Temple Wall. — Another notable 
building of that period was the Old Tabernacle, which stood 
where the Assembly Hall now stands, It was finished in 
April, 1852. When the weather was warm religious gather- 
ings were held in "The Bowery" — not the one used as a the- 
atre, but a similar structure also on Temple Block. The Old 
Tabernacle — so named after the present Tabernacle was built 
— was of stone and adobe, and had a seating capacity of about 
three thousand. 

After the completion of this building, work began on the 
wall enclosing the grounds. The Temple Block wall, ten feet 



general public, eventually supporting traveling stars of the first rnag- 
nitude. 

Governor Young, who projected the Social Hall, and afterwards 
built the Salt Lake Theatre, believed the drama to have a noble mis- 
sion. "The people must have amusements," was a saying frequently 
on his lips, and any movement that furnished wholesome recreation 
had his coimtenance and support. He had taken part in home the- 
atricals at Nauvoo, and several of his daughters were members of the 
Deseret Dramatic Association. 



GROWTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 



91 



hip-h constructed of sandstone and adobe plastered with hard 
ciments?;il remains as one of the early landmarks. It was 

^"^^^The VjIt'Laki'Temple Begun-Other Structures.- In 
February 1853, ground was broken for the Salt Lake Temple, 
Ld on the 6th of April, the Church's twenty-third anmver- 




TEMPLE BLOCK, SALT LAKE CITY. 

sary, the corner stones of that edmce -- PUt in^pj^ace^ wi^ 
^:Z.^:^T:S;, ^:^;:^r the Endowment House 

~T^is Temple was destined to cost ov^^tj;- million ^oU- -^l 
it required forty years for its ^°"^Pl^tio"- J^'g,,'^ H Wells, the first 
jector, Truman O. Angell the ^''^^^t^^^^XpVoeeeded slowly, and was 

superintendent of constniction. Jhe^^°^^/;f'the causes. At first it 
much interrupted; Innited mean be ng one ott ^^^ ^ 

was decided to build the Temple ot Red ^ ^^,^ afterwards the 

car-track was laid to tbe canyon for that^urpo ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^j_ 

Little Cottonwood granite 7?f,^^\°4'"structure was hauled by oxen a 
road, every stone that ^^nt into t e structu ^^^.^^y^^^^ ^^ the huge 

distance of nearly twenty miles. J-/^\^"\7fhe Temple grounds, gave 



92 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

was built; likewise the Church Historian's Office, the Salt 
Lake County Court House, and the Territorial Penitentiary. 
Then followed the Lion House, the Bee Hive House, and the 
Eagle Gate, all erected during the decade of the "fifties." 

Mercantile Activities. — Outside the "Mormon" commu- 
nity, the first person to bring goods to the Utah market for 
sale, was Captain Grant, of Fort Hall, representing the Hud- 
son Bay Company. The next traders of note were Livingston 
and Kinkead, a St. Louis firm, who brought a large stock of 
merchandise across the plains, arriving here in the autumn of 
1849. A year later Holladay and Warner, another eastern 
firm, opened a small store on South Temple Street. Their 
business was in charge of William H. Hooper, who married a 
"Mormon" girl, espoused her religion, and became one of the 
leading financiers of Utah, also serving the Territory as Dele- 
gate in Congress. The senior partner of this firm was Ben 
Holladay, who later established the Overland Stage Line. 
These merchants were all "Gentiles," but they soon had "Mor- 
mon" competitors, such as the Reese Brothers. John and 
Enoch, and William Nixon, "the father of Utah merchants," 
so-called because many of his employes subsequently set up 
in business for themselves.* 

High Prices — Barter and Exchange. — Nothing in mer- 



*Captain Grant sold sugar and coffee at"one dollar a pint," calicoes 
at fifty and seventy-five cents a yard, and other articles in propor- 
tion. Livingston and Kinkead sold sugar and coffee at forty cents a 
pound, and calicoes at twenty-five cents a yard. 

Some of the advertisements of those days read quaintly now. For 
instance, the Reese Brothers announce that they "have constantly on 
hand all necessary articles of comfort for the wayfarer; such as flour, 
hard bread, butter, eggs, vinegar, clothing, buckskin pants, whip-lashes, 
as well as a good assortment of store goods," at their "store near the 
Council House." Alexander Neibaur, surgeon dentist from Berlin and 
Liverpool, informs the public that he "examines and extracts teeth, 
besides keeping constantly on hand a supply of the best matches, man- 
ufactured by himself." William Hennefer caps the climax by pro- 
claiming that he has just opened, in connection with his barber shop, 
an eating house, where his patrons will be accommodated with every 
edible luxury "The Valley" affords. William Nixon is particular to 
point out the precise locality of his "shop" — "at Jacob Houtz's house, 
on the southeast corner of Council House Street and Emigration 
Street, opposite to Mr. Orson Spencer's." This, of course, was before 
the streets of Salt Lake City received their present names, and long- 
before the houses were numbered. Mr. Nixon states that the goods he 
carries "will be sold cheap for cash, wheat, or flour." What was consid- 
ered cheap by the sellers of goods may be seen from the following list; 
A small cooking stove cost from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty 
dollars; glass, thirty to thirty-six dollars a box; writing paper, ten to 
twelve dollars a ream; photographs four or five dollars each; calico 
prints twenty-five to fifty cents. All kinds of steel and iron goods were 
very expensive. 



GROWTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 93 

chandise was cheap at that time. The prevailing high prices 
induced some of the citizens to purchase their family supplies 
in eastern markets and freight them to Utah in their own 
wagons. Conscientious merchants cut down prices, but some 
dealers seemed to have no conscience. On many articles the 
profit was four to five hundred per cent, and at the same time 
the farmer, fruit-grower, or manufacturer was allowed as lit- 
tle as possible for produce or commodities taken in exchange.* 
In justice to the merchants accused of over-charging, it should 
be borne in mind that they were under very heavy expenses. 
and took great risks in purchasing large stocks of goods and 
freighting them over vast distances through untold difficulties 
and perils. 

Primitive business methods continued for many years. 
The dry goods and groceries of the merchant were exchanged 
for the products of farm, mill and workshop, and these prod- 
ucts, when not used at home, were turned into cash in distant 
markets. As soon as the fine young orchards began to bear, 
the dried fruit industry flourished on every hand. 

Home Manufacture — Governor Young's Advice. — Much 
attention was given to home manufacture, and industry and 
economy were earnestly enjoined. Governor Young, in his 
message to the Legislature, in January, 1852, said: "Let home 
industry produce every article of home consumption." The 
message also contained these sentences: "Deplorable indeed 
must be the situation of that people whose sons are not 
trained in the practice of every useful avocation, and whose 
daughters mingle not in the hive of industry." "Produce what 
you consume ; draw from the native elements the necessaries 
of life ; permit no vitiated taste to lead you into indulgence of 
expensive luxuries, which can only be obtained by involving 
yourselves in debt." The Governor asked for the enactment 
of laws to protect local industries and to encourage the man- 
ufacturing interests. 

Textile Industries. — Silk culture was persistently advo- 
cated; also the raising of flax, cotton, and wool, with the mak- 
ing of cloth, thread, yarn and other articles. The wool indus- 
try had begun, though on a small scale, with the founding of 
the comtnonwealth ; a thousand sheep having been brought 
with the immigration of 1848, when the first public carding 

*The Deseret News gave the public this practical piece of advice: 
"Let all trading shops severe]}' alone, where they ask you fifty cents 
a pound for candles, forty cents a pound for sugar and soap, two dol- 
lars and a half a bunch for cotton yarn, etc., and will only give you ten 
dollars a ton for hay, pay you in goods at those high prices, and then 
forthwith sell the hay for fifteen dollars in cash. * * * Hay is 
worth fifteen dollars * * * and it will soon be worth twenty dol- 
lars." 



94 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

machine was set up in Salt Lake Valley. Silk worms and 
mulberry trees were imported from the south of France in 
the fore part of the "fifties," and about the same time cotton 
and flax were raised in various parts of the Territory. 

Sugar and Iron. — In August, 1852, there arrived in Utah 
the machinery for a beet sugar plant, John Taylor, as agent 
for the Church, having purchased it in Liverpool at a cost of 
$12,500. The machinery was set up in the southern suburb of 
Salt Lake City ; Sugar House Ward taking its name from the 
attempt then made to establish this industry. The attempt 
was unsuccessful, but the memory of it remained as an 
inspiration for future efforts that have been productive of re- 
markable results. The abandoned Sugar House was turned 
into a paper mill, the forerunner of a larger one subsequently 
established and conducted in the same vicinity by the Deseret 
News Company. 

The Deseret Iron Company, which Erastus Snow and 
Franklin D. Richards had organized in England, was char- 
tered by the Utah Legislature during the winter of 1852-1853. 
Subsequently furnaces were erected and pig-iron manufac- 
tured at Cedar City.* Grist mills and saw mills had long 
been in operation all over the land, and now tanneries, found- 
ries, cutleries, potteries, and other industries began to thrive. 
Among the earliest home-made articles were cloth, fur goods, 
leather, hats, caps, cordage, brushes, combs, soap, matches, 
paper, ink, knives, forks, and nails. 

Petitions for Railroad and Telegraph. — The need of a rail- 
road and telegraph line across the great plains and mountains 
was sorely felt in Utah, and early in 1852 the Governor and 
Legislature petitioned Congress for the establishment of both 
these mighty agents of civilization. Similar petitions of later 
date were frequently sent to Congress from this Territory and 
other parts of the west.f 



*Cedar City had been founded for this special purpose. The place 
was settled in the autumn of 1851, by thirty-five men from Parowan, 
which had been located by George A. Smith in December, 1850, when 
he led about thirty families from Salt Lake Valley for that purpose. 
Parowan was begun as a farming district, to provide for those who 
might be employed in the Cedar Iron Works, then in prospect. At 
both places forts were built, lands enclosed, canals constructed, and 
harvests sown. Under the charter granted by the Legislature the Des- 
eret Iron Company began its career with a capital stock of about 
$20,000. The Legislature made two appropriations, aggregating nearly 
$7,C)00, to encourage this industry, and the "Mormon" Church, by its 
Trustee-in-Trust, took shares in the enterprise. 

tit has often been asserted that the founders of Utah, when they 
settled amid the solitudes of the Rocky Mountains, were seeking a per- 
manent isolation from the rest of mankind. Their early efforts to se- 
cure railroad and telegraph facilities do not bear out this theory. A 



GROWTH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 



95 



Utah towns in 1853. — In 1853 the principal towns of Utah 
were listed as follows: Great Salt Lake County — Great Salt 
Lake City, Butterfield, West Jordan, Mill Creek, Big Cotton- 
wood, South Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, and Willow 
Creek. Davis County — ^North Canyon, Centerville, North 




(;kka'1' salt l \kh ( \i\ 



Cottonwood, and Kay's Ward. Weber County — Ogden, East 
Weber, Willow Creek, and Box Elder. Utah County — Provo, 
Dry Creek, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Mountainville, 



temporary isolation they undoubtedly desired, but that it could only be 
temporary, they well knew. The Pioneers, while coming west, marked 
out, or their leader did, what he believed would one day be the route 
of a great railroad across the country. George A. Smith, who came 
with Brigham Young to Salt Lake Valley, made this statement, many 
years ago, in a letter to the New York Evening Post. 

The petition of 1852 expressed the belief that five thousand Amer- 
ican citizens had perished on the different routes to the West within 
three years, for want of proper means of transportation; also, that the 
onening of the Utah mines and the further development of the mines of 
California depended upon the construction of such a road. The secur- 
ing of Asiatic and Pacific trade, and the union of the eastern and west- 
ern extremities of the Nation, were among the advantages suggested. 
Jt was proposed that the railroad start from some eligible point on the 
Mi.ssissippi or the Missouri River, and pass through this Territory to 
San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Astoria, or some other point 
on or near the Pacific Coast. Utah agreed to supply at reasonable 
rates materials and provisions for the building of the road, and to fur- 
nish an extensive trade after its completion. 

When Delegate Bernhisel presented this memorial in the House 
of Representatives at Washington, he was told that he was a hundred 
years ahead of the age. In reply, he irivited the members to ride over 
the road upon its completion and visit him at his home in Salt Lake 
City. Twenty years later some of them actually did so, the transconti- 
nental railroad being then an accomplished fact. 



96 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Springville, Palmyra, Peteetneet, Summit Creek, and Cedar 
Valley. Sanpete — Manti, Pleasant Creek, and Allred's Settle- 
ment. Juab County — Salt Creek. Tooele County — Tooele 
and Grantsville. Millard County — Fillmore. Iron County — 
Parowan and Cedar. A year later, David and Lake, in Utah 
County, and Harmony, in the far south, were added to the 
list* 

Additional Counties. — In January, 1854, the Legislature 
organized the counties of Carson, Summit, and Green River. 
Carson Valley had received its first settlers in 1850-1851 ; 
Hampden S. Beatie being the pioneer of that part. Early in 
1853 Samuel Snyder built a saw mill near Parley's Park, now 
in Summit County; and late in the same year Orson Hyde, 
with a colony, founded Fort Supply on Green River. This 
post was about ten miles from Fort Bridger, which had just 
been purchased for the Church by President Brigham Young. 

*Some of these titles have since been changed. In January, 1868, 
Great Salt Lake County and City were shortened by legislative enact- 
ment to Salt Lake County and City. Butterfield and Willow Creek, in 
Salt Lake County, are now Herriman and Draper; while the second 
Willow Creek is Willard, Box Elder County. North Canyon became 
Sessions' Settlement and then Bountiful. North Cottonwood was re- 
named Farmington; Kays Ward, Kaysville; East Weber, Uintah; and 
Box Elder, Brigham City. Dry Creek changed to Lehi, Mountainville 
to Alpine, Peteetneet to Payson, Summit Creek to Santaquin, Pleas- 
ant Creek to Mount Pleasant, Allred's Settlement to Spring City, and 
Salt Creek to Nephi. 



X. 

AN INDIAN UPRISING. 

1853- 1 854. 

Interrupted Colonization. — During part of the period cov- 
ered by the foregoiiiii- chapter the work of colonization in 
Central and Southern Utah was interrupted by an Indian war. 
It was known as "The Walker War," the Ute chief Walker 
beino- at the head and front of the hostiles. 

Governor Young's Indian Policy. — The Indian policy of 
the founders of Utah is summed up in a remark made by Gov- 
ernor Brigham Young: "It is cheaper to feed the Indians 
than to fight them." Instead of treating the red men like 
wild beasts, fit only to be hunted and exterminated (the meas- 
ure meted out to them by many passers over the plains), the 
people here were their friends, and tried to teach them the 
arts of civilization. The Indians were not insensible to such 
treatment, and reciprocal feelings and acts were the result.* 

Still, there were wars, necessary wars, with the natives, 
many of whom, tenacious of their traditions, and unable to 
distinguish at all times between friends and foes, wantonly 
attacked those who had settled among them. They had to be 
punished for such aggressions, until they learned that no 
harm, but only good, was intended by their white neighbors. 
Governor Young's Indian policy triumphed ; the most warlike 
of the savages finally becoming peaceable and friendly. 

A Truculent Chieftain. — Chief Walker's conversion, how- 
ever, was not immediate. He was naturally quarrelsome and 
bloodthirsty, and it took time to convince him that the white 
man could be the red man's friend. His name was a terror 
from New Mexico to California, where he raided and robbed 
the settlements, returning with his plunder to the mountains 



*The author remembers seeing, when a boy, the Shoshone chief 
Washakie and his bands supplied with bread and beeves by the au- 
thorities at Salt Lake City; an incident typical of the general policy 
and practice. The interest felt for the Indians by the Latter-day 
Saints is largely owing to the teachings in the Book of Mormon. .A.c- 
cording to that record, these "Lamanites" are a degenerate remnant 
of the House of Israel, destined to be lifted up from their fallen con- 
dition, to do great things in the future of America. 



98 VVJllTNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

of Utah. Pie was also feared and hated l)y other tribes of 
Indians.* 

Mexican Slave Traders. — The Walker War was partly an 
outgrowth of the Indian slave trade, which was then carried 
on by some of the Mexican inhabitants of California and 
New Mex'ico. Governor Young, in January, 1852, had called 
the attention of the Legislature to this nefarious traffic and to 
his endeavors to prevent its extension into Utah. Incidentally 
he made known the fact that he was an anti-slavery man, 
though he drew a distinction between "honorable servitude" 
and the abuses of the slave system. "No property," said he, 
"can or should be recognized as existing in slaves, either In- 
dian or African." 

In November, 1851, it had become known that a party 
of twenty Mexicans, headed by one Pedro Leon, were in San- 
pete Valley, trading horses for Indian children and firearms. 
They had licenses signed by James S. Calhoon, Governor and 
Superintendent of Indian affairs for New Mexico, authoriz- 
ing them to trade with the Ute Indians "in all their various 



'■'Lieutenant Gunnison, referring- to Walker's antecedents, says: 
"A late chief, acting upon the phu-ality law, left about thirty sons, 
most of whom have small clans under them. His true successor is a 
line, brave Indian, with the largest band immediately around him, 
and he exercises control over all whom he chooses. He is a friend of 
the Mormons. A half brother of his, named Walker, has become rich 
and celebrated for his success in stealing horses from the Mexicans. 
He has a large drove of cattle, with many followers." 

When the Pioneers were approaching Salt Lake Valley, and it be- 
came known that they olanned settling in this region, the question 
of how they should be treated was considered at a large Ute encamp- 
ment in the Wasatch Mountains. The chief Sowiette advised peace 
and friendship, while Walker raised his voice for war and extermina- 
tion. Most of the young men stood with him. The debate grew warm, 
and finally Walker intimated that Sowiette was a coward. The peace- 
loving sachem could endure no more. Seizing a rawhide whip, he 
advanced upon the insulter and gave him a sound flogging. There 
was no more talk of Sowiettc's "cowardice," and his peace counsel 
prevailed. 

Tradition tells of a similar encounter between Walker and Wash- 
akie. The Shoshone chief, angered by the Ute, challenged him to sin- 
gle combat. Walker failing to accept the challenge, Washakie called 
him a "dog," and snatching from him his tomahawk, hurled it away 
in scorn and contempt. 

Washakie was a staunch friend to the settlers, and his good will 
was prized. He spent his last years on an Indian reservation in Wyo- 
ming. President Grant, it is related, sent him a handsome saddle, 
which the chief much appreciated, but said nothing in return for the 
gift. When asked why he was silent, Washakie replied, in substance: 
"White man's gratitude is in his head, and the head can speak; In- 
dian's gratitude is in his heart, and the heart has no tongue." The 
Indian settlement, Washakie, in Northern Utah, was named in honor 
of this noble red man. 



AN INDIAN UL'RiSiNCj. 



99 



0^,^^SS 



localities." As this included Utah, the Deserct News criticized 
the conduct of Governor Calhoon and showed that the pur- 
chase and removal of Indian children from this Territory con- 
stituted the crime of kidnapping. The News also made it clear 
that if the traders were purchasing arms and ammunition to 
supply the Navajo Indians, who were at war with the United 
States, it was treason, according to the letter of the Constitu- 
tion. 

These protests and warnings had no effect upon the slave 
traders. They declared that they would do as they pleased, 
regardless of law and authority. Whereupon Pedro Leon 
and seven of his party were ar- 
rested and tried before a justice 
of the peace at Manti. Subse- 
quently their case came before 
fudge Snow, in the District 
Court at Salt Lake City. The 
court decided against the Mex- 
icans, and the Indian slaves in 
their possession, a squaw and 
eight children, were set free. 

Inciting the Savages. — The 
traders, having been ordered h i 
leave the Territory, avenged 
themselves by stirring up the 
savages against the settlers. 
They also furnished the Indians 
with guns and ammunition, 
contrary to the laws of Utah 
and of the United States. The 
situation became so serious 
that Governor Young, in April, 
1853, issued a proclamation, 
calling attention to the tac- 
tics of the slave traders, and ordering Captain Wall 





W.\:^II.\KIK. 



th 



thirty mounted men, to reconnoiter the southern country and 
arrest every strolling Mexican party or any other suspicious 
person whom he might encounter. 

The War Begins — Death of Alexander Keel. — The 
Walker war began in Utah County, during the summer of 
1853. Walker and his brother Arapeen, with their bands, 
were then encamped on Peteetneet Creek, at the mouth of 
Payson Canyon. On the 18th of July a number of his war- 
riors rode down to Fort Payson, where the inhabitants re- 
ceived them kindly, and as usual gave them food. No hostile 
movement was made until evening, when the Indians, as they 
were leaving the fort, shot Alexander Keel, who was standing 



100 WHITNEY'S POl'ULAR IJiSTURY OF UTAH. 

guard outside. The provocation for this murder was a severe 
punishment administered by a resident of Springville to a Ute 
Indian who was beating his squaw; the white man interfering 
in her behalf. 

Hastening back to camp, the murderers informed Walker 
of what they had done. He at once ordered his tribesmen to 
pack their wigwams and retreat into the mountains. Several 
white families were living in Payson Canyon, and upon these 
the savages fired as they passed, but were in too great a hurry 
to do serious harm. 

Expecting a general attack, the people of Payson flew to 
arms, and were reinforced by bodies of militia from Spanish 
Fork, Springville, and Provo. It was decided to follow the 
Indians, who, it was feared, intended to attack the Sanpete 
settlements; a fear justified by events that followed. Leaving 
the infantry to garrison Fort Payson, Colonel Conover, with 
his cavalry, started for Manti. General Wells, at Salt Lake 
City, being informed of the situation, sent Colonel William 
H. Kimball, with a hundred mounted men, to reinforce Con- 
over. 

Indian Attacks — Military Movements. — Attacks were 
made by the Indians at various points, and they raided and 
ran off stock in all directions. In an assault upon Springville, 
William Jolley was wounded in the arm. At Nephi cattle were 
stolen and the guard fired upon, David Udall being wounded. 
Similar depredations were committed in Sanpete Valley. Near 
Mount Pleasant, a portion of Conover's command under Lieu- 
tenant Jabez Nowlin were fired upon by twenty or thirty In- 
dians. The troops returned the fire, and the savages fled, leav- 
ing six or seven of their number dead on the field. 

Running the Gauntlet. — Colonel Conover now started 
messengers for Salt Lake City, to request further orders from 
General Wells. The messengers were Clark Roberts of Provo . 
and John W. Berry of Spanish Fork. Leaving Manti on the 
afternoon of July 23rd, they reached Santaquin next morning 
to find the place deserted; the settlers having sought safety at 
Payson. As the two horsemen rode through the town, they 
were fired upon by Indians concealed in the houses. Berry be- 
ing shot in the wrist,, and Roberts through the shoulder. Put- 
ting spurs to their horses, they rode at full speed toward Pay- 
son, hotly pursued, and succeeded in escaping. 

Measures of Defense.— Colonel George A. Smith was now 
put in command of all the militia south of Salt Lake City, with 
instructions to take prompt and thorough measures for the 
defense and safety of the settlements. He was directed by 
Governor Young to gather all the inhabitants into forts, to 



AN INDIAN UPRISING. 



101 



corral their stock, and surround it with armed guards. No 
offensive warfare was to be permitted, but Indians caught at- 
tempting to kill or steal were to be summarily punished. Col- 
onel Smith carried out his instructions, and the wisdom of 
these defensive measures was soon apparent. Settlers whi. 
failed to build forts and corral 
their stock, suffered severely 
from the raids of the savages.* 

Typical Indian Outrages. 
— About the middle of August, 
Parley's Canyon, east of Salt 
Lake Valley, was the scene of 
an Indian outrage. Four men, 
John Dixon, John Quayle, 
John Hoagland, and John 
Knight, were hauling lumber 
from Snyder's saw mill, and 
had reached the vicinity of 
"The Summit," when they 
were fired upon by Indians in 
ambush. Quayle and Dixon 
were instantly killed. Hoag- 
land was wounded in the arm, 
but was able to help Knight 
unhitch two of their horses, 
upon which they rode with all 
speed to Salt Lake City, barely 
escaping with their lives. John Dixon was a Pioneer of 1(S47. 

A similar tragedy took place in Juab County, on the first 
of October. William Reed. James Nelson. William Luke, and 
Thomas Clark had started from Manti with two wagons 
loaded with wheat for Salt Lake City, and had reached Uintah 
Springs, a little east of Salt Creek Canyon, when their camp 
was attacked by Indians. All four men were killed. There had 
been a fight on Clover Creek during August, in which one In- 
dian was killed and a white man, Isaac Duffin, wounded. 

At Manti, on the fourth of October, William Mills and 
John E. Warner fell victims to an Indian assault near a grist 
mill on the outskirts of the town; and at Santaquin, ten days 
later, several men engaged in harvesting were fired upon and 
F. F. Tindrel slain. 




GEORGE A. SMITH. 



*Colonel Smitli liad met Walker in Little Salt Lake Valley, while 
lie and his fellow colonists were locating the town of Parowan ihe 
Ute chief made them a visit, accompanied by a large hand of braves. 
The conduct of the Indians demonstrated, to the satisfaction of these 
settlers, that building a fort and living in it was the only safe policy 
for them to pursue. 



102 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Perilous Times.— Travel from settlement to settlement 
unless accompanied by a strong guard, was now extremely 
perilous. Dunng this period the authorities at Salt Lake Citv 
ordered a "Spanish wall" built around the town, as a means of 
defense and an example to the outlying settlements. The 
wall was to be of earth, twelve feet' high, six feet through 
at the base, and tapering to a thickness of two and a half feet 
at the top, with gates and bastions at suitable intervals. Frag- 
ments of this old-time barrier, which was never completed, 
may still be seen on the outskirts of the city. 

, In the autumn of that troubled year, at the General Con- 
ference of the Church, a number of prominent men were called 
to lead companies to various parts for the purpose of strength- 
ening the imperiled settlements. Each company was to con- 
sist of fifty families.* 

Pauvants on the War Path. — Meanwhile the Indian war 
went on. From the savages who had begun the strife, others 
caught the infection. At Fillmore, on the 13th of September, 
William Hatton, while standing guard, was killed by some of 
the Pauvant tribe. On the 26th, Captain Stephen Markham, 
with his command, had a brush with the red men near Nephi, 
a number of Indians being killed, and one white man, C. R. 
Hancock, wounded. In another skirmish at the same place 
eight savages were slain and several captured. At various 
points, saw mills, grist mills, and other buildings, temporarily 
abandoned by the' settlers, were burned by the marauders. 

The Gunnison Massacre. — An episode of the Walker War 
was the tragedy known as the Gunnison massacre. Captain 
John W. Gunnison, who as Lieutenant of Topographical Engi- 
neers had visited Salt Lake Valley with Captain Stansbury 
in 1849, returned to this region in 1853, at the head of "The 
Central Pacific Railroad Surveying Expedition" — which, by 
the way, had no connection with the Central Pacific Railroad 
afterwards built from California to Utah. The route sur- 
veyed by him was from the East, crossing Green and Grand 
rivers. Captain Gunnison, having passed the Wasatch Moun- 
tains, had turned northward and was camped on Sevier River 
when his terrible fate overtook him. 

Indian Retaliation. — The Gunnison massacre was an act 



-■^George A. Smith, Erastiis Snow, and Franklin D. Richards were 
to lead two companies to Iron and Millard counties; Wilford Wood- 
ruff and Ezra T. Benson, a company to Tooele County; and Lyman 
Stevens and Reuben Allred. a company to each of the settlements in 
Sanpete Valley. Lorenzo Snow was to take fifty families to Box 
Elder ("nunly. and Joseph 1.. Ileywnud, annlher fifty to Juab County. 
At this same conference Orson liydc was tlirected to organize an 
expedition and found a permancnl scttlcmen:: on Green River. 



AN INDIAN UPRISING. 103 

of revenge, the provocation for which had liecn given sev- 
eral weeks before, by a party of Missouri emigrants, on their 
way to California. These emigrants had encamped at Fill- 
more. Excited by the reports of Indian outrages all around 
them, some of the party vowed to kill the first savages that 
came into their camp. Judge Anson Call, the principal man at 
Fillmore, remonstrated with the makers of this unwise threat, 
informing them that some of the Indians were friendly. The 
Missourians. however, carried out their purpose, killing two 
Indians and wounding three others. These were friendly 
Pauvants, begging food and clothing. Roughly ordered away 
and refusing to go, they were assaulted, and in the scuffle that 
ensued several rifles were discharged, with the result stated. 
Captain Hildreth, who commanded the emigrant train, much 
regretted the afYair, which occurred during his absence. No 
reparation was made, and the relatives of the slain Indians 
sought revenge. The emigrants were then beyond reach, but 
the avengers, according to savage custom, attacked the next 
party of white men passing through their country. 

That party was the one led by Captain Gunnison. Meet- 
ing him soon after the killing of the Pauvants, Judge Call re- 
lated to him the occurrence. The Captain expressed keen re- 
gret, remarking: "The Indians are sure to take their revenge." 
He was well acquainted with their customs, having studied 
and written upon the subject. 

Gunnison's Party — Place of the Tragedy. — In addition to 
Captain Gunnison, the party comprised Lieutenant E. Beck- 
with, of the Topographical Engineers; R. H. Kern and J. A. 
Snyder, topographers; F. Creutzfeldt, botanist; S. Homans, 
astronomer; Dr. James Schiel, surgeon and geologist; Cap- 
tain R. M. Morris and a small company of mounted riflemen, 
acting as escort and guard to the expedition. There were also 
a number of employes, including William Potter of Manti, 
Gunnison's guide.* 

On the 24th of October they encamped on the cast bank 
of Sevier River, about fifteen miles above the point where it 



*Tlie next notable party to pass tlirough Utah was headed l)y Fre- 
mont, the explorer. This was in February, 1854. The Pathfinder 
was then on his final expedition to the West. With him were nine 
white men and twelve Delaware Indians. Perishing with hunger and 
cold, they were helped over the mountains into the town of Parowan, 
by some of the hospitable people of Iron County. One man had fal- 
len from his horse, dead, before reaching the settlements. Fremont 
remained at Parowan nearly two weeks, liefore proceeding on to Cal- 
ifornia. S. N. Carvalho. the artist of the expedition, tarried three 
months in Ulali, and after\\ards ga\e the results of his experience and 
observations in a book entitled "Incidents of Travel and Adventure 
in the War West." 



/ 



104 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

flows into the Lake. At Captain Gunnison's request. Lieu- 
tenant Beckwith and Captain Morris, with the main portion of 
the command, explored the country up the river, while Gun- 
nison, with a few men, crossed to the west bank and followed 
the stream down. On the evening of the 25th, he pitched his 
tents among the willows of the river bottom, at the head of 
Sevier Lake, where a reconnoisance was to begin next morn- 
ing. With the Captain were Messrs. Kern and Creutzfeldt, 
William Potter, James Bellows, and a corporal with six rifle- 
men. 

Attacked from Ambush. — Long before sunrise the camp 
was astir, and most of the men were at breakfast, when sud- 
denly rang out the terrible war whoop of a numerous band of 
savages, who had crept unseen upon their unwary victims. 
From the willowy ambush they poured volley after volley of 
rifle shots mingled with arrows in among the campers. A call 
to arms was sounded, and the little band fought gallantly, kill- 
ing one Indian and wounding another; but a successful de- 
fense under such conditions was impossible. Very soon, of 
the twelve white men, only four remained alive. 

Captain Gunnison, at the opening fire, rushed from his 
tent, raised his hands, and called out to the Indians that he 
was their friend. He fell pierced with arrows and rifle balls. 
Kern, Creutzfeldt, Potter, Bellows, and three riflemen were also 
slain. One of the survivors was the Corporal, who narrowly 
escaped capture. Securing a horse, he rode to the point where 
the company had divided, the day before. The horse falling 
exhausted, its rider ran on foot most of the fourteen miles still 
between him and the camp of Lieutenant Beckwith. He ar- 
rived there barely able to communicate the frightful news. 

Honors to the Dead. — Captain Gunnison was buried at 
I'^ilbnore. His death was a shock and a sorrow to the whole 
community. Governor Young referred to it feelingly in his 
next message to the Legislature. The Captain, by his fair- 
ness and friendliness, had endeared himself to the people of 
Utah, and they sincerely mourned his tragic end. The town 
of Gunnison, in Sanpete County, was named for him. Lieu- 
tenant Beckwith succeeded Captain Gunnison in command of 
the surveying expedition, and completed the work by him 
begun. 

End of the War. — Governor Young had made repeated 
efiforts to put an end to the prevailing strife. Almost at the 
beginning of hostilities, he sent a written message to "Captain 
Walker." telling him that he was "a fool for fighting his best 
friends." Along with this message went a gift of tobacco, and 
the promise of a supply of l)eef cattle and flour if he would 
"send some friendlv Indian down to the settlements." These 



AN INDIAN UPRISING. 105 

overtures broug-ht no response, but they were supplemented by 
others more successful. 

In May, 1854, the Governor and other leading- men visited 
Central Utah, coming- in contact w^ith the native, tribes and do- 
ing all in their power to gain the good will of the hostiles. 
They took with them several wagon-loads of presents, de- 
signed especially for Walker and his bands. A meeting be- 
tween the Governor and the Chief took place on Chicken 
Creek (Levan). Walker was attended by his principal braves, 
and the Governor by his official escort. The Pauvant chief 
Kanosh and a number of his tribesmen were also present. 
After a long talk, and the smoking of the pipe of peace, a 
treaty was entered into, and hostilities ceased.* 

So ended the Walker War, during which a score of white 
people and many Indians had been killed, and several small 
settlements broken up, the inhabitants seeking refuge in the 
larger towns and forts, leaving their houses and other im- 
provements to the mercy of the marauders. Santaquin and 
Spring City suffered most, the latter being burned to the 
ground. The war cost the Territory about $70,000, and in ad- 
dition the private losses aggregated nearly three times that 
amount. 

Death of Chief Walker. — Within a year after peace was 
restored, Walker died at Meadow Creek, in Millard County. 
He was buried by his tribesmen, with all his warlike weapons 
and accoutrements. According to Indian custom, the Utes 
killed two squaws, two Piede children, and fifteen of their best 
horses, that the departed leader might have company on his 
journey to "The Happy Hunting Qrounds." They likewise 
placed in the grave a letter received by Walker the day before 
his death — a letter from Governor Young, of whom the dying 
chieftain spoke affectionately in his last hours. The once fierce 
and implacable warrior had at last become convinced that the 
people of Utah were his friends, and the peace treaty between 
him and the authorities of the Territory was faithfully kept. 
Walker was succeeded by his brother Arapeen. 

During the peace talk, the two parties sat facing each other from 
opposite sides of an Indian tepee. General Wells, while distributing 
the gifts, tossed to each warrior a plug of tobacco. His action, though 
not meant to ofifend. was very displeasing to the dignified Ute chief- 
tain, whose ej^es blazed witli anger. He refused to lift his tobacco 
from where it lay, remarking that he would not have a gift thrown 
to him, like a bone to a cur. Whereupon, General Wells good-natur- 
edly took a new plug of tobacco and presented it to Walker with a 
polite bow. The chief's anger was at once dispelled. He admitted that 
Governor Young was a "big chief," but insisted that he himself was 
a big chief also, emphasizing and illustrating the point by putting his 
thmnbs together and holding them up before him, one as high, as the 
other. 



XI. 



BRIGHAM YOUNG AGAIN GOVERNOR. 

1854-1857. 

Petition for Re-appointment. — Brigham Young's first 
term as Governor of Utah now drew to a close. Shortly be- 
fore its expiration, the leading citizens of the Territory united 
in a petition to the President of the United States, asking that 
Governor Young be re-appointed. 

The first signer of the petition was Chief Justice John F. 
Kinney, who, in August, 1854, had succeeded Chief Justice 

Reed on the Supreme Bench 
of the Territory. The next to 
sign was Lieutenant-Colonel 
Edward J. Steptoe, U.S.A. He 
had arrived at Salt Lake City 
on the last day of August, at 
the head of a detachment of 
troops, on his way to Califor- 
nia. Steptoe's signature was 
followed by the names of all 
the Federal, civic and military 
officers then in Utah, and by all 
the principal business men. 
The petition was sent to Wash- 
ington, and the Governor's re- 
appointment soon followed.* 

Colonel Steptoe and His 
Command. — • Colonel Steptoe 
and his men spent the winter at 
Salt Lake City. The troops 
numbered one hundred and 
seventy-five, comprising two 
companies of artillery and one 
of infantry, while an almost 
ec|ual number of employes had charge of the animals and ve- 
hicles. The mutual relations of civilians and soldiers were 
mostly of an agreeable character, but between some of the 
latter, who were intoxicated, and a party of citizens, a fracas 
occurred on New Year's dav in which firearms were used and 




JUDGE KINNEY. 



*Presiclent Franklin Pierce had named Colonel Steptoe for Gover- 
nor, but he, after surveying the local situation, declined the prof- 
fered honor, and supported the movement tliat for a second time gave 
the ofifice to tlie founder of the 1\M-ritorv. 



ijRiC.iiAM YOUNG AGAIN GUVJ<:RN0R. 107 

several persons wounded. Colonel Stcptoe's officers helped 
to quell the riot, striking- with their sabers their own men 
until thev desisted from the brawl. In the evening of that 
day the Utah Legislature gave a ball in honor of the recently 
arrived representatives of the G(n-ernmcnt.* 

The Gunnison Massacre Investigated— Convictions.— 
Colonel Steptoe, acting under instructions from Washmgton. 
investigated the Gunnison massacre. Through the mfluence 
of Go^^ernor Young, a number of Indians concerned m the 
crime were delivered up to justice, and it devolved upon Chief 
justice Kinnev to try them in the District Court at Nephi. 
The court was held under the protection of United States 
troops detailed for that purpose; a precaution deemed neces- 
sary owing to the presence of about one hundred Ute war- 
riors' who" were encamped near by, watching with keen in- 
terest the progress of the trial. Three Indians were convicted 
and sent to the penitentiary. 

Death of Judge Shaver.— On the 29th of June, 1855, Judge 
Leonidas Shaver died at his residence in Salt Lake City. He 
was found dead in bed, at one o'clock in the afternoon, having 
retired, as usual, about midnight. An inquest was held at 
which Doctors France and Hurt, the latter Judge Shaver s 
medical attendant, testified that death had been caused by an 
abscess on the brain. The jury's verdict was in accordance 
with these facts. 

Judge Shaver, like Judge Reed, who had died at Bath, 
New York, three months before, was sincerely mourned m 
Utah and the citizens united in doing honor to his memory. 
A puiDlic funeral was held at the Council House, Chief Justice 
Kinney directing, and President Brigham Young and Elder 
Orson Pratt taking part in the service. At the grave Dr. Gar- 
land Hurt, Utah's new Indian agent, tendered his warmest 
thanks "as a fellow Virginian" for the ceremonies extended 
on the occasion. The Deseret News, in a feeling reference to 
Judges Reed and Shaver, spoke of their appointment to office 
in this Territorv as "among the many kind public acts of Mil- 
lard Fillmore, late President of the United States, toward the 
inhabitants of Utah." 

Judges Kinney, Drummond, and Stiles.— Chief Justice 
Kinney succeeded to the good will felt for his predecessor. He 



*Sergeant John Tobin, one of Sleptoc's oflicers,_ joined the Mor- 
mon" Church, married a "Mormon" girl, and remained at Salt Lake 
City, where he taught a class in sword exercise. Others of the mili- 
tary party abused the hospitality extended to them by leading astray 
some of the young women of the community who afterwards went 
with thcMii to California. 



108 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

resided in Utah until the spring of 1856, when he returned to 
Iowa, in order to give his children better educational advan- 
tages than were possible in the West at that early period. 
Subsequently he returned, under a re-appointment as Chief 
Justice, and afterwards served the Territory as Delegate in 
Congress. Judge Snow, having served out his term, was suc- 
ceeded by Associate Justice George P. Stiles; and the vacancy 
caused by the death of Judge Shaver was filled, in the autumn 
of 1855, by the appointment of Associate Justice William W. 
Drummond, who was from Illinois. Judge Stiles was formerly 
of that State, but at the time of his appointment was a citizen 
of Utah. 

The new Associate Justices were heartily disliked. In 
various ways they made themselves obnoxious to the great 
majority of the people. At Fillmore, in open court. Judge 
Drummond declared that the laws of the Territory were 
founded in ignorance, and that it was his purpose, in all cases 
appealed from the probate courts to the tribunal over which 
he presided, to set aside the findings, unless they were within 
the pale of powers commonly exercised by probate courts. 
Judge Stiles also manifested some unfriendliness toward local 
legislation, particularly the law defining the duties of the Ter- 
ritorial Marshal. 

All this might have been got along with, had the two 
magistrates conducted themselves in such a way as to com- 
mand respect. Drummond was a dishonest and licentious 
man, and Stiles seems to have been little better. At Nauvoo 
and at Salt Lake City he held membership in the "Mormon" 
Church, but was finally excommunicated for adultery. The 
appointment of these dissolute characters to of^ce in this Ter- 
ritory was a misfortune to all concerned. 

So far as their opinion upon local legislation went, 
nobody questioned their right to that. Moreover, they 
were not alone in their critical attitude. Chief Justice Kinney 
did not hold with them, however, nor had Judges Reed and 
Shaver so held. Congress, to whom the Territorial legisla- 
tion was regularly submitted, had not disapproved of the laws 
relating to probate courts and territorial officers, but on the 
contrary had given them, by its silence, an implied sanction. 

The Utah-California Boundary. — It was about this time 
that the boundary line between Utah and California was de- 
termined. There was no Nevada then ; the entire State now 
bearing that name being within the Territory of Utah. Col- 
onists from Salt Lake Valley had been making their way to 
the Carson region since 1850 or 1851. Orson Hyde led a com- 
pany thither in the spring of 1855, and with him went Judge 
Stiles and United States Marshal Heywood ; these three hav- 



B RICH AM YOUNG AGAIN GOVERNOR. 109 

ing been appointed by the Utah Let,nslature to meet with a 
similar commission from California and establish the boundary 
in question. They also organized Carson County, under au- 
thority given them by the people's representatives. 

The Educational Spirit.— The year 1855 was notable for 
the organization, at the Utah capital, of a number of education- 
al institutions, among them the Philharmonic, Polysophical, 
Deserct Library and Musical, and Universal Scientific soci- 
eties, and the Deseret Theological Institute. Also the Horti- 
cultural Society, a forerunner of the Deseret Agricultural and 
Manufacturing Society, which, founded the year following, 
was destined to a long and useful career. The acquisition 
of foreign languages was encouraged, and among the publi- 
cations of the period was a grammar of several Indian dia- 
lects. Another famine was impending — for grasshoppers and 
drouth had been doing destructive work- — but the people hun- 
gered not only for physical food ; a craving for mental and 
suiritual nourishment was likewise manifest. 

Remy's "Journey to Great Salt Lake City." — Utah was 
beginning to attract the attention of noted travelers from va- 
rious countries. One of these, Jules Remy, a Frenchman, with 
his companion, Julius Brenchley, arrived at the capital of 
the Territory in the autumn of that year. They came from 
the West, having set out from San Francisco on the 18th 
of July, for the express purpose of making "A Journey to 
Great Salt Lake City." Such was the title given by M. Remy 
to the book he afterwards published, in which he sketches 
interestingly "the history, religion, and customs of the Mor- 
mons." By way of Carson River and Tooele Valley, he and 
his party reached Salt Lake City on the 25th of September. 
They were guided by Peter Haws, a "Mormon" ranchman. 
They remained in this vicinity a full month, and then took the 
southern route to California, with Los Angeles as their objec- 
tive point. 

During their sojourn at "The New Jerusalem," as Remy 
styles the Utah capital, they lodged at the Union Hotel, which 
was kept by Chief Justice Kinney.* The high prices charged 
for everything were almost terrifying to these travelers, but 
they nevertheless praised the hospitality they met with, and 
atttributed "the high cost of living" to the straightened period 
through which the Territory was passing. 



*Thc Union Hotel was "near the northern extremity of tlic city," 
and was named for its proximity to Union Square. The building after- 
wards became the Union Academy, lauyht I)y Dr. Dorcmus, one of 
Utah's early educators. Uater it housed a department of the Univer- 
sity of Deseret, and still later the Deseret Hospital. 



110 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

"The Mormon Pope," as the French traveler terms the 
then leader of the Latter-da}- Saints, even when accessible was 
not over-communicative to every uncredentialed new comer 
in those days; and as this party had lost their letters of credit, 
and had arrived without the least means of establishing their 
identity, their first effort to secure a satisfactory interview 
with President Young was a comparative failure. A second 
attempt, after the latter had been made acquainted with the 
true character and purpose of the visitors, resulted in their 
obtaining all that they sought. They were vouched for by 
James Lawson, a "Mormon" missionary whom they had met 
in the Sandwich Islands. Remy's book, in most respects, is 
accurate and impartial. Its author was favorably impressed 
with the greater part of what he saw and heard in Utah, and 
he departed with friendly feelings toward the people in gen- 
eral* 

Statehood Again Denied. — Utah, in 1856, had a white pop- 
ulation of about thirty thousand, and in March of that year 
another effort was put forth to secure political sovereignty. A 
Constitutional Convention assembled at Salt Lake City and 
petitioned Congress to admit the Territory into the Union as 
tl^e State of Deseret. Hon. George A. Smith and Hon. John 
Taylor — the latter then editing "The Mormon" in New York 
City — carried the petition and the proposed state constitu- 
tion to AVashington. Admission was again denied. f 

A Year of Calamities. — Eighteen hundred and fifty-six 
^v■as a year of calamities for Utah. The crops of two seasons 
had failed, and another famine threatened the people. The 
failure ol: 1854 was owing to a visitation of grasshoppers (lo- 
custs). These were even more destructive than the crickets, 
and unlike the earlier pests had wings and could fly beyond 
the reach of their pursuers. The following year the locusts 
returned, and devoured, in many parts of the land, every green 



*Ainong the one lumdred Utah "Gentiles" — for that is the nnni- 
l>er set down by AI. Remj^ at the period of his visit — he mentions 
Geneial P.iiir, "an intelligent and worthy old man," the Government's 
recently appointed Surveyor General for the Territory; i.lso Mr. W. 
Bell, managing partner of the mercantile house of Livingston, Kin- 
kcad and Co., who, as well as the "Mormon" President, wa exceed- 
ingly kind to him, discounting his bills on San Francisco to any amount 
required, without charging him any commission. The author of the 
"Journey" does not speak so highly of Judge Drummond, wlio cheated 
him in a horse trade, and shocked him by brazenly declaring: "Money 
is my God. and you can write it down in your journal if you so de- 
sire." Remy declares that Drummond was living openly with a woman 
who was not his wife. 

tin 1852 and again in 1S5.^. tlie Legislature liad petitioned Con- 
gress for an F.naliling Act autlT'rizin- • a S.t''te gnvernnient for Utah. 



BRIGHAM YOUNG AGAIN GOVERNOR. Ill 

thing growing'. Added to that plague was a season of drouth. 
Then came the winter, one of the severest ever known in this 
region, burying the grazing lands under heavy snows, and 
causing the death of thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep. 

Privation and Benevolence. — During the early months of 
the new year the people suffered much privation. Many were 
driven to the necessity of digging and eating roots — the sego 
and other wild growths, to eke out an existence until harvest 
time. A^ast quantities of fish, taken with nets from Utah Lake, 
became food for the half famished people. All were not alike 
destitute. Some, foreseeing the straitness, had provided 
against it, and their bins and barns were full, while others 
were empty. Those who had, gave to those who had not ; 
the full larders and storehouses being drawn upon to supply 
the needy and prevent suffering.* 

The Tintic War. — To add to the general distress, some of 
the Indians became troublesome. A Ute chief named Tintic 
led the hostiles. inhabiting the valleys west of Utah Lake. 
The^' stole cattle from the herds, and killed two herdsmen, 
Henry Moran and Washington Carson. A posse of ten men 
with writs issued by Judge Drummond from the District 
Court at Provo, set out "for Cedar Valley to arrest the murder- 
ers. They met with determined resistance, and an Indian 
named Battest was killed. In the general light that followed, 
George Carson, one of the posse, received a mortal wound, 
while on the other side a squaw was killed and Chief Tintic 
wounded. A few days later the savages slew John Catlin, 
John A\'inn. and a Mr. Cousins, near Kimball's Creek, south- 
west of Utah Lake. They also captured and put to death a 
young man named Hunsaker. A force of cavalry under Colonel 
Conover was now ordered out by the Governor. Crossing the 
ice-covered lake, they pursued the Indians, who fled at their 
approach, leaving behind the stolen cattle. This ended ti'- 
Tintic War. 

The savages engaged in the strife were Utes, but were 
renegades from their tribe, for whose acts the main body was 
not responsible. The same may be said of a band of Yampa 



*Ani()iig tlic most provident ar.d the most benevolent were Pres- 
ident Hebcr C. Kimball, of Salt Lake City, and John Neff, on Mill 
Creek. Tliese men and others stood like so manj' Josephs in Egj'pt 
to the lumgry multitude. They took no advantage of the straightened 
situation, In- whicli they migln have profited Iniancially: but sold a. 
n^oderate prices, where they did not give outright, tiieir beef and 
IireadstufTs, to those able to reind^urse them. VVIien flour commanded 
as higii as a dollar a pound, they would not accept more than si.\ cents, 
nor sell at all except to those in need, refusing to speculate out of the 
necessities of the poor. 



112 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Utes, who, in September of this year, broke up a settlement 
on Grand River.* The Utes as a whole respected the treaties 
that they had entered into. They had even made peace with 
their ancient foes, the Shoshones, through the influence of 
Governor Young and other leading citizens. 

Death of Secretary Babbitt. — During this calamitous year, 
the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains attacked and robbed 
trains and killed travelers. Colonel Almon W. Babbitt, Sec- 
retary of Utah, was slain while returning from an official visit 
to the City of Washington. First, his train, loaded with Gov- 
ernment property, was attacked and plundered by Cheyenne 
Indians, near Wood River (Nebraska) ; two of the four team- 
sters being killed, and another wounded. The savages also 
carried off a Mrs. Wilson, and slew her and her child. 
Colonel Babbitt was not with his train, but was killed by 
Cheyennes east ot Fort Laramie, about the last of August. 

The Margetts-Cowdy Massacre. — A few days later, an- 
other outrage by Indians of the same tribe occurred west of 
Fort Kearney. Thomas Margetts and wife, James Cowdy, wife 
and child, all from Salt Lake City, were crossing the plains on 
their way to England. They had a covered wagon, two mules 
and two riding horses. After leaving Fort Laramie they were 
joined by Henry Bauichter, a discharged United States soldier, 
who traveled with them as far as the scene of the tragedy. On 
the sixth of September he and Mr. Margetts left camp to go 
hunting, and early in the afternoon they succeeded in killing a 
bison. A bluff was between them and the wagon, the latter a 
mile and a half away. Margetts took a portion of the meat to 
camp, and half an hour later Bauichter, having secured more, 
followed. As soon as he saw the wagon he noticed that the 
cover was gone, and on approaching nearer beheld the bodies 
of Mr. Margetts, Mr. and Mrs. Cowdy and their child, lying on 
the ground. All were dead but the child, and it was wounded 

*The Grand River settlement was about where the town of Moab 
now stands. The founders, forty mei., were from Manti, and the col- 
ony was known as the Elk Mountain Mission. A little over three 
months after their arrival on Grand River, their fort was attacked by 
the Indians, who killed James W. Hunt, William Behunin, and Edward 
Edwards, and wounded Alfred N. Billings. Next day the survivors 
started back for Manti, arriving there six days later. 

A similar experience awaited the Salmon River (Idaho) Mission, 
founded in June of the previous year by a coinpany organized on 
Bear River, Utah, by Thomas S. Smith, and led by Francillo Durfee 
to its destination. In the midst of a savage country tliey founded Fort 
Limhi, which was maintained until 1858, when the colonists were 
driven out by hostile Indians. 

A mission was also established at Las Vegas (Nevada) by a com- 
jiany under William Bringhurst, with George V. Bean as Indian inter 
prctcr. 



BRIGHAxM YOUNG AGAIN GOVERNOR. 113 

and dying. Mrs. Margetts was missing. No shots had been 
heard, but an arrow was sticking in Cowdy's thigh. In the dis- 
tance, riding rapidly away, was a band of about a dozen In- 
dians. The mules and horses had been taken, and the wagon 
plundered. 

The Hand-Cart Immigration. — The close of the year 
brought a calamity more terrible still. It was the historic 
hand-cart disaster, in which upwards of two hundred "Mor- 
mon" immigrants, bound for Utah, and belated upon the 
storm-swept plains, lost their lives. Most of them were from 
England, Scotland, or Scandinavia.* 

The project of using hand-carts for the overland journey 
from the frontier, originated in Utah, and was first put into 
effect for the season of 1856. It was estimated as cheaper and 
more expeditious to cross the plains in that manner, than with 
ox teams and wagons. Nine pounds, English money (equal to 
about forty-five dollars) was the hand-cart rate from Liverpool 
to Salt Lake City. The immigrants, landing at Boston or New 
York, would proceed thence to Iowa City, their outfitting point 
for the journey over the plains. The carts, which were made 
on the frontier, could carry the baggage and provisions, and 
the stronger men could pull them. The idea, though novel, 
was not startling, since most of the travelers to Utah, while 
having teams to draw their heavy wagons, had been trudging 
afoot, year after year, almost the entire distance west of the 
Missouri River. 

The hand-cart scheme became very popular in England, 
and a heavy emigration resulted, more than could be con- 
veniently handled on the Iowa frontier. There the belated 
companies should .have remained through the winter. It ^vas 
an error in judgment to send them over the plains so late in 
the season. 

Three Companies Arrive Safe. — The first of the hand-cart 
companies to arrive in Utah were two led by Edmund Ells- 
worth and Daniel D. McArthur. They had left Iowa City, 
one on the 9th, and the other on the 11th, of June; the former 
with 226 persons, the latter with 220. They had nearly a 



*A disaster of earlier date, likewise connected with the Utah im- 
migration, was the blowing up of the steamboat "Saltula." on the Mis- 
souri River, in April, 1852. The accident occurred near Lexington, 
Mo., and was due to the forcing of cold water into the boilers, which, 
during a detention of several days near an ice-floe, had been allowed 
to get dry and red hot. While the engineers were thus "getting up 
steam," there was an explosion, and in ten minutes the boat sank. 
The lost passengers numbered about 175, ninety of whom were Lat- 
ter-day Saints, en route for Utah. R!i R. Kelsey was in charge of the 
ci>iu])any, but, with others belonging to it, lia]>pi.ned lu be a>liorc when 
the rccident took place. 



114 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

hundred hand-carts, with a few ox and mule wagons. Men, 
women, and children walked most of the way, wading rivers, 
crossing deserts, and climbing mountains, a distance of thir- 
teen hundred miles. A few deaths occurred among the aged 
and sickly, but the great body arrived safe and in good condi- 
tion. 

The journey had taken a little over three months, and 
could have been accomplished in less time, but for the break- 
ing down of some of the hand-carts, which, made of unsea- 
soned timber, were unable to bear the strain of a long trip over 
the sandy, sun-heated plains. Moreover, many of the vehicles 




A HANDCART TRAIN. 

were not ready when needed, and this caused delay at the be- 
ginning. The date of arrival at Salt Lake City was the 26th 
of September. A third company, under Captain Edward 
Bunker, came in on the 2nd of October. 

Belated on the Plains. — Two other companies, traveling 
in like manner, were still on the plains. One of these was 
commanded by James G. Willie, and the other by Edward 
Martin. Captain Willie left Iowa City on the 15th of July, 
and Florence (old Winter Quarters) on the 19th of xA.ugust. 
Captain Martin Avas about two weeks behind. 

Relief Parties. — The early approach of c^)ld weather in 
Utah awoke fears for the safety of the immigrants, and forth- 
with relief parties were organized and sent out to meet them. 
vScores of brave men, taking wagon loads of clothing, bedding 
and provisions, went forth to rescue their imfortunate 
fellows, struggling through deep snows and piercing winds 



BRIGHAM yOUNG AGAIN GOVERNOR. ll5 

along- the Platte and the Sweetwater. Among those who 
went out to meet the immigrants were several returned mis- 
sionaries, just home from Europe. Traveling west they, with 
others, had overtaken and passed the delayed companies, and 
upon arriving at Salt Lake City had reported their condition, 
and then returned to succor them.* 

The Story of the Disaster. — The story told l)v the sur- 
vivors is pathetic in the extreme. John Chislett. of Willie's 
company, and John Jacques, of Martin's command, published 
g-raphic accounts of their experiences, as did also Josiah Rog- 
erson at a later period. 

According to these chroniclers, men and women, pulling 
loaded hand-carts, or carrying little children, and helping along 
the aged and feeble, traveled on in misery day after day. At 
times they made good progress, but as a rule only a few miles 
between sunrise and sundown. Thinly clad and poorly fed, 
they were ill prepared for the hardships of the long and weari- 
some journey. \Vhen provisions became low, they had to be 
put upon rations, which gradually grew less as the immigrants 
grew hungrier and weaker. 

Early in the journey many of the hand-carts began to 
break down. Having been made with wooden axles and leather 
boxes, they soon became rickety and unserviceable, especially 
on the rough roads near the mountains. Frequent repairs 
were necessary, resulting in additional delay. There being no 
axle grease in camp, some of the immigrants used their supply 
of bacon to lubricate the vehicles. Unable at last to draw the 
heavy loads, they were compelled to lighten their luggage by 
casting away bedding and clothing that were needed more and 
more as the weather grew colder. Death after death occurred, 
until the path of the pilgrims could almost be traced by a trail 
of new-made graves. Snow fell, and shrill winds blew furious- 
ly about the worn and weary travelers. But the}- dared not 
stop, lest a worse fate might befall them. 

To the Rescue. — One day, during the noon halt, a light 
wagon drove into camp, with two young men — Joseph A. 
Young and Stei)hen Taylor — from Salt Lake City. They an- 
nounced that a train of supplies was on the way. Says the 
Chistlett narrative: "More welcome messengers never came 
from the courts of glory than these two young men were to us. 
They lost no time, after encouraging us all they could to 
press forward, but sped c^i further east, to convey their glad 
news to Edward Martin and the fifth hand-cart company, who 



*'riic missionary party, as it left tlic frontier, included Riders 
I'ranklin 1). Richards, Daniel Spencer, and Cyrns II. Wlieelock, late 
liresidcncv of the F,in-opcan Mission ; also Gcorso D. Grant and Wil- 
liam H. Kimball, advance agents for that season's immigration. 



116 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

had left Florence about two weeks after us, and who, it was 
feared, were even worse ofif than we were. As they went from 
our view, many a hearty 'God bless you' followed them." 

The first relief party encountered the same storm that 
spent its fury on the immigrants, and not knowing of their 
utter destitution, it encamped to await favorable weather. 
Captain Willie, leaving his wagons, went out to meet this 
party, and upon hearing his urgent story, they hitched up 
their teams and made all haste to the rescue.* 

Martin's Ravine. — Martin's camp was found late in Oc- 
tober, between the Platte and the Sweetwater. These immi- 
grants had waded the cold waters of the river, and set up their 
tents amid piercing winds and a driving snow storm. Scrap- 
ing away the deep snow with tin plates or frying pans — for 
they had no shovels — they were so weak they could scarcely 
drive the tent pegs into the hard, frozen ground. They had 
about given up hope, and had settled down to die amid their 
bleak surroundings. Scores of deaths had already occurred, 
and many a grave had been dug and filled by the wayside. 
Martin's Ravine, as the camp was called, became a cemetery 
before the survivors left it. When relief came, the scene of 
joy and thanksgiving already described was repeated. 



*The scene of joj^ attending the arrival, at sunset, of four covered 
wagons, containing food, clothing, and other supplies for the half- 
starved, half-frozen travelers, is eloquently described by Mr. Chislett, 
who was a "Mormon" at the time of the disaster, though he subse- 
quently left the Church. Says he: 

"The news ran through the camp like wild-fire, and all who were 
able to leave their beds turned out en masse to see them. A few min- 
utes brought them sufficiently near to reveal our faithful Captain 
slightly in advance of the train. Shouts of joy rent the air; strong 
men wept till tears ran freely down their furrowed and sunburnt 
cheeks, and little children partook of the joy, which some of them 
hardly understood, and fairly danced around with gladness. Restraint 
was set aside in the general rejoicing." When the rescuers entered 
the camp, the women fell upon them and deluged them with kisses. 
The brave fellows were so completely overcome that for some mo- 
ments they could utter no word, but in choking silence repressed the 
emotions that mastered them. "Soon, however, feeling was somewhat 
abated, and such a shaking of hands, such words of welcome, and such 
Invocations of God's blessing have seldom been witnessed." 

"After arriving in the valley," continues Mr. Chislettt, "I found 
that President Young, on learning from the brethren who passed us 
on the road of the lateness of our leaving the frontier, set to work at 
once to send us relief. It was the October Conference when they 
arrived with the news. Brigham at once suspended all conference bus- 
iness, and declared that nothing further should be done until every 
available team was started out to meet us. He set the example by 
sending several of his best mule teams laden with provisions. Heber 
Kimball did the same, and hundreds of others followed their noble 
example." 



JJRIGIIAM YUUNG AGAIN GOVERNOR. 117 

Crossing the Sweetwater. — It was about the middle of 
November when the last of the hand-carts crossed the Sweet- 
water. The stream at that point was only two feet deep, but 
the water was intensely cold, with three or four inches of ice 
on the surface. Many of the immigrants waded, as did also 
the rescuers, the latter carrying on their back women, chil- 
dren, and the weak or disabled men.* 

A Typical Incident. — The Jacques narrative preserves 
the following typical incident of that tragic journey. In the 
rear of the train a man and his wife were pulling along one 
of the hand-carts. When they reached the river, the man, who 
was much worn down, asked plaintively, "Must we go across 
there?" On being answered in the affirmative, he burst into 
tears, exclaiming, "Oh! dear, I can't go through that." His 
wife, who had the stouter heart of the two, said soothingly, 
"Don't cry, Jimmie, I'll pull the hand-cart for you" — and into 
the icy stream she strode. 

The Journey Ends. — West of South Pass the extreme 
cold moderated, and relief wagons were frequently encoun- 
tered. In Martin's company, while it was passing down Echo 
Canyon, a babe was born, and one of the relief corps contrib- 
uted part of his under-linen to help clothe the little stranger — 
a girl. She was named Echo. 

Captain Willie reached Salt Lake City on the 9th of No- 
vember, and Martin three weeks later. His command num- 
bered at starting five, or six hundred persons, about one- 
fourth of whom perished. Willie, out of four or five hundred, 
lost seventy-seven. The event filled Utah with gloom, and 
carried sadness into many a home beyond the sea. Other 
hand-cart companies crossed the plains, both ways, during 
succeeding years ; but never again did one start late in the 
season. 

Governor Young's second term closed in the midst of an 
episode which threatened at one time overwhelming calamity 
to Utah. But the tragic issue was happily averted. The de- 
tails of that episode, the opening phases of which belong to 
the year 1857, are reserved for succeeding chapters. 



*David P. Kimball, George W. Grant, Stephen Taylor, and C. 
Allen Huntington are mentioned by Mr. Jacques as having performed 
this heroic service. Others prominently mentioned as belonging to 
the relief parties are Ephraim K. Hanks, William H. Kimball, Cyrus 
H. Wheelock. James Ferguson, Abel Garr, Daniel W. Jones, Thomas 
Alexander, Ben Hampton, Robert T. Burton, Charles Decker, G. G. 
Webb, Hosea Stout, Isaac Bullock and Joseph Simmons. The names 
of others equally worthy have been lost. The relief corps was mostly 
from Salt Lake, Davis, and Tooele counties. The people at Fort 
Supply were also active in extending aid. 



XII. 
THE COMING OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY. 

1857. 

An Alleged Rebellion. — The Territory of Utah was com- 
pleting the seventh year of its existence, when a serious 
misunderstanding' arose between the people of this common- 
wealth and the Government of the United States. It resulted 
m what is commonly called "The Echo Canyon War." The 
trouble was caused by false reports of a rebellion in Utah, and 
the sending of Federal troops to put down the alleged uprising. 
The coming of the troops, and the resistance offered by the 
Territorial militia to their armed and forcible entrance into 
Salt Lake Valley, constituted the "war" in question. The epi- 
sode is known in national history as "The Utah Expedition." 

The Drummond Charges. — One of the main causes of the 
misunderstanding was a letter written by Judge William AV. 
Drummond to the Attorney-General of the United States, charg- 
ing that the Supreme Court records at Salt Lake City had been 
destroyed with the direct knowledge and approval of Governor 
Brigham Young; that Federal officers had been grossly in- 
sulted for questioning the treasonable act; and that a condition 
of affairs existed calling for a change of Governors and for 
military aid to enable the new Executive to perform the duties 
of his office. 

These were grave charges ; but even worse were made. 
Judge Drummond intimated that the murder of Captain Gun- 
nison, the death of Judge Shaver, and the killing of Secretary 
Babbitt had all been done by advice and direction of the lead- 
ing authorities of the "Mormon" Church; and he asserted that 
all who opposed those authorities, in any manner whatsoever, 
were harassed, insulted, and even murdered, by their orders or 
under their influence. "These reasons," said he, "with many 
others that I might give which would be too heart-rending to 
insert in this communication, have induced me to resign the 
office of Justice of the Territory of Utah and again return to 
my adopted State of Illinois."* 

Judge Drummond's letter was dated March 30, 1857. Its 
writer, after holding court for Judge Stiles in Carson County, 
passed thence into California, and libeled the people of 
Utah in the papers of that State. He then proceeded by the 

*The investigation of the Gunnison massacre by Colonel Steptoc, 
and the conviction in Judge Kinney's court of several Indians con- 
cerned in that crime, have already been mentioned. The general sor- 
row felt over Captain Gunnison's fate, and the honors paid to his mem- 



. THE COMING OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY. 119 

Panama route to New Orleans, and from that city sent the 
letter enclosing his resignation to the Attorney-General. 

An Unsavory Record. — The Drummond charges were at 
once denied, and their author was accused of acting from mo- 
tives of revenge, owing to an exposure of gross immorality 
which had caused all Utah to ring with his shame. It trans- 
pired that Judge Drummond had abandoned a respectable 
family in Illinois, and had brought with him across the plains 
a common courtezan, whom he introduced as his wife. He 
took this woman with him on his travels, and even had her 
sit with him upon the Bench while he dispensed justice to the 
people and lectured them on the short-comings of their legis- 
lators. Relatives of the real Mrs. Drummond, seeing the pub- 
lished notice of her arrival at Salt Lake City, called to see her 
and discovered the disgraceful truth.* The culprit, finding 
himself socially ostracised, concluded to resign his office and 
leave the Territory. "The whole of his conduct," says T. B. 
H. Stenhouse, a non-"Mormon" writer, "was a gross insult to 
the Government which he represented, and the people among 
whom he was sent to administer law. For any contempt the 
Mormons exhibited towards such a man, there is no need of 
apology, "t 

ory by the Governor and Legislature, have also been touched upon. 
In addition, it may be stated that Governor Young wrote to the Cap- 
tain's widow a kind and consolatory' letter, expressing his grief over 
the tragedy and enclosing a lock of her husband's hair, stating that he 
regretted his inability, owing to the condition in which the body was 
found, to send it East for burial. Mrs. Gunnison and the family were 
fully convinced of the truth— that the Indians alone were responsible. 
The main facts in the case, as related by Lieutenant Beckvvith of the 
Gunnison party, and published in the "Deseret News" shortly after the 
massacre, are set forth in Chapters X and XI, this History. Chapter 
XI also contains a true account of Judge Shaver's death and the kill- 
ing of Secretary Bablntt. The Secretary's brother-in-law, who was 
editor of the Crescent City (Iowa) "Oracle," after a full investigation, 
published in that paper. May 22, 1857, the facts respecting the tragic 
death of his relative. They had previously appeared in the Council 
Bluffs "Eagle," and were copied into the "Millennial Star" (Vol. 18, pp. 
686 and 823). The investigation proved beyond a doubt tha.; Colonel 
Babbitt had been killed by Indians; the savages themselves confessing 
the crime. And j'et it continues to be charged upon the "Mormon" 
Church by nearly all anti-"Mornion" writers. 

*These relatives were Mr. and Mrs. Silas Richards. Drummond. 
when questioned by them, represented that his wife in Illinois had 
been divorced from him. The Richards couple then communicated 
with that lady, who wrote them a letter denying the divorce and ex- 
posing her husband's illicit relations with "the Carroll woman." This 
letter was published in the "Deseret News," May 20, 1857. By that 
time Drummond had left Utah. 

tThe passage quoted is from a book written by Mr. Stenhouse, 
entitled "The Rocky Mountain Saints," published in New York City 
in 1873. The author had been a prominent "Mormon," but was then 
a seceder from the Church. 



120 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Clerk Bolton's Denial. — As soon as the charges were pub- 
lished and the news could reach Salt Lake City. Curtis E. 
Bolton, Deputy Clerk of the United States Supreme Court of 
Utah, wrote to the Attorney-General over his official signa- 
ture and seal, testifying that the records alleged to have been 
destroyed were safe in his keeping; and he offered to refute 
by records, dates, and facts, all that Judge Drummond had 
asserted. 

Precipitate Action. — It was too late. The charges had 
been accepted as true. Before the Bolton letter could reach 
Washington, a new set of Federal officers had been appointed 
for Utah, and an army ordered to the Territory to assist them 
in maintaining the authority of the Federal Government. 

The Magraw Letter. — The National Administration, in this 
rather hasty movement — for no investigation had preceded it 
— did not act solely upon the sensational story told by Judge 

Drummond. In October, 1856, W. M. 
F. Magraw, of Independence, Mis- 
souri, had written to President James 
Buchanan, representing that in Utah 
there was "left no vestige of law and 
order, no protection for life or proper- 
ty." He declared that the civil laws of 
the Territory were "overshadowed and 
neutralized by a so-styled ecclesias- 
tical organization, as despotic, danger- 
ous and damnable" as had ever been 
known to exist in any country, and 
which was ruining not only those who 
did not subscribe to their religious 
code, but was "driving the moderate 
and more orderly of the Mormon com- 
munity to desperation." No class was 
exempt from outrage ; all alike were 
"set upon by the self-constituted theocracy," whose "laws or 
conspiracies" were "framed in dark corners, promulgated from 
the stand of tabernacle or church, and executed at midnight 
or upon the highways by an organized band of bravos and as- 
sassins."* 

The Y. X. Company. — The writer of this inflammatory 
epistle posed as a personal friend to President Buchanan. He 




PRESIDENT BUCHANAN. 



*Allusion is here made to the fabled "Danite Band,'' which plays 
so prominent a part in most anti-"Mormon" writings. Dr. Sampson 
Avard, at Far West, Missouri, and John C. Bennett, at Nauvoo, Illi- 
nois, both excommunicated from the "Mormon" Church for various 
acts of wickedness, were the originators of this sensational slander. 



THE COMING OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY. 121 

was an ex-mail contractor who, with his partner, J. M. Hock- 
aday, had been conducting a mail service between Independ- 
ence and Salt Lake City. The service was unsatisfactory, and 
when the Hockaday-Magraw contract expired, a new one was 
awarded by the Government to Hiram Kimball, a "Mormon," 
he having- underbid all competitors, including the former con- 
tractors. The Kimball contract became the basis of "The 
Brigham Young Express Carrying Company" (abbreviated to 
"The Y, X. Company") which proposed to carry a regular 
monthly mail and transport passengers and freight between 
the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast. The enterprise, 
which was not exclusively "Mormon," several "Gentile" busi- 
ness men being connected with it, was launched in January, 
1856, and toward the close of that year the Magraw letter 
found its way to Washington. 

Other Complaints. — Still another complaint against al- 
leged undesirable conditions in Utah had been made by Asso- 
ciate Justice George P. Stiles. As previously stated, this man 
had been a "Mormon," but had lost his standing in the Church 
on account of immoral conduct. Following a disagreement 
between him and several "Mormon" attorneys, whom he ac- 
cused of threatening his court, Judge Stiles filed at Washing- 
ton an afifidavit that gave color to some of Drummond's 
charges. Stiles, as well as Drummond, represented that the 
Utah court records had been destroyed. Bolton's reply to 
Drummond, therefore, was equally an answer to Stiles upon 
that point.* 

Indian Agent Hurt. — Doctor Garland Hurt, Utah's Indian 
Agent, likewise lent the weight of his influence at Washington 
against the Latter-day Saints. He did more. After the begin- 
ning of hostilities, having joined the Federal troops under safe 
conduct from Governor Young, he visited some of the Indiah 
tribes and endeavored to incite them against the Utah set- 
tlers. f 



*The court incident occurred in February, 1857. The disagree- 
ment was over the rival claims of the United States marshal and the 
Territorial marshal, in the matter of serving writs and empaneling 
juries. Judge Stiles held that it was the right of the U. S. marshal to 
perform such service whether the court was transacting business for 
the United States or for the Territory of Utah. The attorneys took 
sharp issue with the Judge, using language construed by hnn as m- 
tending to intimidate. Instead of fining them, Stiles suddenly ad- 
journed court, and used the incident as a weapon against the "Mor- 
mon" communitv. He complained that Governor Young, when ap- 
pealed to by him, manifested contemptuous indifference over the 
matter. 

tit was believed that the savages who broke up the Sahuon Kiver 
Colony in 1R58 were influenced by white men unfriendly to the "Mor- 
mons." 



122 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Little and Hanks. — Information respecting the Govern- 
ment's purpose to send troops to this Territory came to the 
ears of two Utah men. Feramorz Little and Ephraim Hanks, as 
early as February, 1857. Late that month they arrived with 
the mail at Independence, having crossed the plains under a 
special arrangement with the postmaster of Salt Lake City ; 
Hockaday and Magraw having failed to properly close their 
contract. Through the non-arrival of the mails in Utah, Mr. 
Kimball had not learned, up to the time that Little and Hanks 
left home, of the acceptance of his bid by the Government. 
Immediately upon receipt of the notice, preparations to begin 
proceedings under the new contract were vigorously pushed ; 
so much so that the establishment by the Express Compaiiy of 
a mail station on the Upper Platte was reported to the Govern- 
ment by Indian Agent Twiss, in the Deer Creek region, as a 
forceful "Mormon" invasion of the Sioux Indian reservation. 
Mayor Smoot Brings the Tidings. — The news of the com- 
ing of the troops was brought 
to Utah by Abraham O. Smoot, 
Mayor of Salt Lake City. 
AVhile in the East as an agent 
of the Y. X. Company, he 
learned from Feramorz Little 
at Fort Laramie, and after- 
wards at the office of a Govern- 
ment contractor in Kansas 
City, that Brigham Y^oung had 
been superseded as Governor; 
that a new set of Federal offi- 
cers had been appointed for the 
Territor}^; and that an army 
would accompany them to the 
Utah capital. He also ascer- 
tained that certain freight 
wagons belonging to Contrac- 
tor William H. Russell, and 
which he had encountered on 
the plains, were loaded with 
army supplies, a portion of the 
equipment of the Expedition. 
These reports were confirmed at Independence, where the 
postmaster refused to deliver the mails for the West, stating 
that he was acting under orders from Washington. 

Accepting this statement as conclusive, Mayor Smoot and 
Nicholas Groesbeck, the latter in charge of the Y. X. Com- 
])any's business at the eastern end of the route, decided to 
break up the recently established mail stations and move the 




MAYOR SM0;)T 



THE C(3MING OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY. 123 

outfits westward. The Mayor, to avoid excitement, at first 
proceeded leisurely, gathering up the property as he went. On 
the 17th of July he reached Fort T.aramie, and from that point 
set out with all speed for Salt Lake City. The distance was 
over five hundred miles, but in a light spring wagon drawn 
by four fast horses, he and his companions, Judson L. Stod- 
dard and Orrin Porter Rockwell, accomplished the journey in 
five days and three hours, arriving at their destination on the 
evening of July 23rd. The news they brought was delivered 
to Governor Young about mid-da}- of the 24th. 

The Silver Lake Celebration.^ — It was the tenth anniver- 
sary of the arrival of the Pioneers in Salt Lake Valley, and 
the Governor, with about twenty-six hundred people, resi- 
dents of the capital and neighboring settlements, were in the 
midst of a peaceful celebration of that event, when the word 
came that an army was marching to Utah to put down a re- 
bellion against the Government. The celebration was held 




SILVER LAKE. 



on the banks of Silver Lake, at the head of Big Cottonwood 
Canyon. From two lofty mountain peaks and some of the 
tallest trees surrounding the encampment, the Stars and 
Stripes had been unfurled, and early in the day the people had 
assembled in spacious boweries to be addressed by their lead- 
ers. Prayer was oft"ered, the choir sang, bands played, cannon 
roared, and the military performed their evolutions. Dancing, 
boating, feasting, games, and other innocent amusements fol- 
liiwed. ^^'hilc the fosti\ities were at their height, four men 
rode into camp, seeking the i)rcsence of Governor Young. 



124 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Three of them were Mayor Snioot, Judsoii Stoddard, and 
Porter Rockwell, the Y. X. messengers from the East. Their 
companion was Judge Elias Smith, postmaster of Salt Lake 
City. 

How the News was Received. — Governor Young, upon re- 
ceiving the tidings brought by the messengers, called a council 
of leading men and laid the subject before them. There was 
no outward excitement, whatever the inward agitation. The 
main body of the campers were not even informed until they 
had assembled for evening prayer, when General Wells at the 
Governor's request spoke to them briefly, giving the news and 
instructing them as to the order in which they should leave 
the camp-ground next morning. Benediction was then pro- 
nounced, and the assemblage dispersed. 

To the community at large, the warlike rumor could not 
but be of an exciting character. The announcement that a hos- 
tile army was approaching would have been startling at any 
time, but on that day of days, when the people were praising 
God for their deliverance from past sorrows and their establish- 
ment in a land of peace, it came with tenfold force. As inter- 
preted by them, it meant another attempt to despoil them and 
drive them from their hard-earned homes. 

Extreme Views. — This Avas an extreme view, but no more 
extreme than the view taken by the Government relative to a 
rebellion in Utah. The avowed object of the National Author- 
ities was to give the new executive and his fellow officers a 
iiiilitary arm to protect and assist them in the performance of 
their duties. Those officers, aided by the troops, were not to 
create chaos, but to restore order; not to make war upon the 
people, but to preserve peace and maintain the supremacy 
of law.* Such, however, was the tension of those times that 



*The instructions to the commander of the Expedition contained 
these sentences: "The community, and, in part, the civil government 
of Utah Territory are in a state of substantial rebellion against t!i(> 
laws and authority of the United States. A new civil Governor is 
about to be designated, and to be charged with the establishment and 
maintenance of law and order. Your able and energetic aid, with that 
of th"! troops to be placed under your command, is relied upon to se- 
cure the success of his mission." "If the Governor of the Territory, 
finding the ordinary course of judicial proceedings of the power vested 
in the United States Marshals and other proper officers inadequate for 
the preservation of the public peace and the due execution of the laws, 
should make requisition upon you for a military force to aid him as a 
posse comitatus in the performance of that official duty, you are 
liereby directed to employ f(ir that i)\n-pose the whole or such part of 
your command as may be required; or should the Governor, the 
Judges, or Marshals of the Territory find it necessary directly to_ sum- 
mon a part of your troops, to aid either in the performance of his du- 



THE COMING OF JOIlNSTOiN'S ARMY. 125 

the citizens could not be convinced that the army meditated 
anything but evil. Knowing that they were not in rebellion, 
and that there was no need of troops to restore or maintain 
order, they took the view most natural under the circum- 
stances. It looked to them like a movement fur their destruc- 
tion. 

Resistance Determined Upon. — They resolved that such 
an event should not be. Self-defense was a duty as well as a 
right. They determined to oppose the troops, and prevent 
them if possible from entering Salt Lake Valley. But while 
holding back the arm lifted (as they believed) to strike, they 
proposed to acquaint the Government with the true situation, 
hoping that a peaceful and friendly adjustment of dififerences 
would follow. If this hope failed, they would lay waste their 
farms and fields, set fire to their towns and villages, and retire 
into the mountains or into the southern wilderness. 

Governor Young's Position. — It was no part of Governor 
Young's purpose to resist the installation of his successor. 
While disgusted with the conduct of some of the officials sent 
from the East to represent the Government in Utah — "broken 
down political hacks," he called them, referring, of course, to 
men of the Judge Brocchus and Judge Drummond stamp, men 
of corrupt lives, flaunting and even boasting of their immoral- 
ity; while he had no admiration for such characters, he still rec- 
ognized the source of their authority, and had no thought of re- 
belling against the Government. He did not oppose the com- 
ing of the newly-appointed Federal officers ; he opposed only 
the troops and what he feared would result from their entry 
into the Territory. Not having received from the Government 
any notice of the sending of the army, and knowing nothing 
of the instructions given to its commander, he could only 
judge of what it intended doing, in Utah, by the bitter mem- 
ory of things done in Missouri and Illinois, when the mobs 
and militia of those States made common cause and undertook 
to "restore peace" in the "Mormon" cities and settlements— a 
"peace" synonymous with "desolation." Said he. "The United 
States is sending its armi'^s here to hold us still until a niob 
can come and butcher us, as has been done before." "Liars 
have reported that this people have committed treason, and 
upon their misrepresentations the President has ordered out 
troops to assist in officering this Territory." "We have trans- 
gressed no law, neither do we intend to do so; but as for any 



ties, you will take care that the summons be promptly obeyed. And \u 
no case will you, your officers or men, attack any body of citizens 
whatever, except on such requisition or summons, or in sheer self- 
defense." 



126 WlllTNEY'S POPULAR IILSTOKY UP UTAH. 

nation coming to destroy this people, God Almighty being my 
helper, it shall not be.-"* 

The Expedition and its Commander. — The Army for 
Utah, twenty-five hundred choice troops, splendidly officered 
and equipped, set out for the West in the summer of 1857. 
Their commander, Albert Sidney Johnston, was a brilliant 
soldier, who had been spoken of as the probable successor to 
the aged General Winfield Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the 
United States Army. When ordered to Utah, Johnston was a 
colonel of cavalry and pay-master in the military service. 
Later, he was made a brigadier general. The command 

of the Expedition had first been 
given to General W. S. Harney, then 
^^i0lfm»^ ^ in charge at Fort Leavenworth; but 

just before the time came to start he 
was ordered to remain in Kansas 
and operate for peace in that dis- 
tracted State. Johnston received his 
appointment late in August, and im- 
mediately repaired to Fort Leaven- 
w^orth. 

The March Begins. — The van- 
guard of the troops, comprising 
eight companies of the Tenth Regi- 
ment and the entire Fifth Regiment 
of Infantry, under Colonel E. B. 

GENERAL TOIINSTON. a 1 J J 4. A j-U 

Alexander, moved westward on the 
18th of July, and a few weeks later the two remaining com- 
panies of the Tenth Infantry, under Colonel C. F. Smith-, fol- 
lowed. The artillery — Phelps' and Reno's batteries — went 
with the infantry. The cavalry, six companies of the Second 
Dragoons under Colonel Philip St. George Cooke, started on 
the 16th of September. This was the same Colonel Cooke 
who had commanded the Mormon Battalion in the Mexican 
War. With him traveled Governor Alfred Gumming and 
other recently-appointed Federal officers. General Johnston 
and stafi^, with a detachment of forty dragoons, in light spring 
wagons left the frontier post one day behind Colonel Cooke. 
Several large supply trains and herd's of cattle for the army 
had been upon the plains since June or July. The expedition 




*The Governor's apprehension of intended violence on the part 
of the Federal troops was partly based upon a widespread hostile 
sentiment, to the effect that the Utah Expedition ought to take pos^ 
session of the "Mormon" country, kill or imprison the men, and 
confiscate the women. Ribald expressions to this effect were upon the 
lips o: many of the soldiers and camp followers while on their march 
to the Territory. 



THK CUiViiNG OF JOHNSTON'S ARMY. Ml 

was destined to cost the Government Ijetwcen fifteen and 
twenty million dollars. 

Utah's First "Gentile" Executive. — Governor Gumming, 
who was al)out to succeed Governor Young, was a native of 
Georgia, and had served the Nation in an official capacity 
among the Indians on the Upper Missouri. He was appointed 
to this Territory on the 11th of July, 1857. A true southern 
gentleman of the old type, chivalrous, brave, fair-minded, and 
withal conservative, his selection at that critical period to pre- 
side over our troubled commonwealth proved in many ways 
most fortunate. 

Captain Van Vliet. — The first person to enter Utah from 
the ranks of the Expedition was Captain Stewart Van Vliet, 
of the Commissary Department. He was guided by two "Mor- 
mon" scouts, having left his own escort at Ham's Fork, one hun- 
dred and forty-three miles distant. The date of the Captain's 
arrival at Salt Lake City was the 8th of September. His ob- 
ject in coming was to ascertain whether forage and fuel could 
be purchased for the troops while quartered within the Ter- 
ritory. In his official report to Captain Pleasanton, Assistant 
.Adjutant General, Van Vliet said: 

"Immediately upon my arrival I informed Governor Young that 
I desired an interview, which he appointed for the next day. On the 
evening of the day of my arrival Governor Young, with many of the 
leading men of the city, called upon me at my quarters. The Governor 
received ine most cordially, and treated me during mj' stay, which con- 
tinued some six days, with the greatest hospitality and kindness. In 
this interview he made known to me his views with regard to the ap- 
proach of the United States troops, in plain and unmistakable language. 
■= * * The next day, as agreed upon, I called upon the Governor 
and delivered in person the letter with which I had been entrusted. In 
that interview, and in several subsequent ones, the same determina- 
tion to resist to the death the entrance of the troops into the valley was 
expressed by Governor Young and those about him. The Governor 
informed me that there was abundance of everything I required for 
the troops, such as lumber, forage, etc., but that none would be sold 
to us. 

"In the course of my conversations with the Governor and the 
influential men of the Territory, I told them plainly and frankly what 
I conceived would be the result of their present course. I told them 
that they might prevent the small military force now approaching Utah 
from getting through the narrow defiles and rugged passes of the 
mountains this year, but that next season the United States Govern- 
ment would send troops sufficient to overcome all opposition. The 
answer to this was invariably the same: 'We are aware that such will 
be the case; but when those troops arrive thev will find Utah a desert. 
Ever-"' house Avill be burned to the pround, every tree cut down, and 
every field laid waste. We have three years' provisions on hand, 
which we will cache, and then lake to the mountains and bid defiance 
to all the powers o/ the Government.' 

"I attended their services on Sunday, and, in course of a sermon 
delivered by Rider Taylor, he referred to the approach of the troops 



128 VVHITNHV'S J'Ol'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

and (It'clarcd llicy sliouhl nut cntfr the Territory. He then referred 
tij tlie prol)al)ility of an overpowering force being senl against them, 
and desired all present who wonld aoply the torch to their buildings, 
cut down their trees, and lay waste their fields, to hold up their hands. 
Every hand, in an audience numbering over four thousand persons, 
was raised at the same moment. During my stay in the city I visited 
several families, and all with whom I was thrown looked upon the 
present movement of the troops toward their Territory as the com- 
mencement of another religious persecution, and expressed a fixed 
determination to sustain Governor Young in any measures he might 
adopt. From all these facts I am forced to the conclusion that the 
Governor and the people of Utah will prevent, if possible, the Army 
for Utah from entering their Territory this season. This, in my 
opinion, will not be a difficult task, owing to the lateness of the sea- 
son, the smallness of our force, and the defenses that nature has 
thrown around the Valley of the Great Salt Lake." 

Bloodshed Deprecated.— Captain Van Vliet became con- 
vinced that the people of Utah had been grossly misrepre- 
sented, and he expressed the belief that the Government would 
send an investigating- committee to the Territory. Governor 
Young replied: "I believe God sent you here, and that good 
will grow out of it. I was glad when I heard you were com- 
ing. If we can keep the peace this winter, I feel sure that 
something will occur to prevent the shedding of blood." 

A Deplorable Deed. — The irony of fate was never more 
painfully manifest than at that particular period. While these 
hopeful and humane sentiments were being uttered in North- 
ern Utah, there was perpetrated, in a far away southern corner 
of the Territory, a most horrible deed — the Mountain Meadows 
massacre, at once the most tragic and most deplorable event 
in the history of the commonwealth. It occurred on the lltb 
of September, while Captain Van Vliet was still at Salt Lake 
City; but the news did not reach this point until nearly three 
weeks later. Even then the awful tale was not fully told. It 
was not a day of railroads and telegraphs, and the scene of the 
crime was three hundred miles from the Territorial capital, in 
an Indian countrv, bevond the outskirts of civilization. 



XIIT. 

THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 

1857. 

A Crime Against Utah. — The massacre at Mountain 
Meadows was not only a crime against its immediate victims; 
it was a crime against the commonwealth, whose fair fame was 
thus dragged in the mire, and whose people, through persistent 
misrepresentation, have been made to suffer unjustly the 
odium of a deed which all classes alike execrate and deplore. 
Limited space precludes here an exhaustive treatment of the 
subject, but the main facts connected with the terrible tragedy 
are as follows. 

Emigrants for California. — About the time the news 
reached Utah that an army was marching toward the Ter- 
ritory, for the avowed purpose of suppressing what the Federal 
Administration styled "a state of substantial rebellion against 
the laws and authority of the United States," there arrived at 
Salt Lake City two companies of emigrants, one from Arkan- 
sas, and the other from Missouri, both on their way to South- 
ern California. The Arkansas company was led by Captain 
Fancher, and the Missouri company by Captain Dukes. 
Fancher's train seems to have been made up for the most part 
of respectable and w^ell-to-do people, but along with them w^ent 
a rough and reckless set of men calling themselves "Missouri 
Wild Cats." The latter were a boisterous lot, and their con- 
duct was probably one of the chief causes of the calamity that 
came upon them and their betters. 

The "Missouri Wild Cats." — This "rough and ready" ele- 
ment is mentioned by Mr. Stenhouse ("Rocky Mountain 
Saints," pp. 424-428) as forming a party distinct from the 
Arkansas company. This upon information imparted to him 
by a gentleman friend, whom Mrs. Stenhouse, in her book 
("Tell it All," p. 325) identifies as Eli B. Kelsey, who traveled 
with the emigrants from Fort Bridger to Salt Lake City. But 
Bancroft, the Western historian, discredits this statement 
(History of Utah, p. 545, Note 3), and gives credence to an 
account published in Hutchings' California Magazine {IV. 
345) to the effect that "there were a few Missourians in the 
Arkansas party."* 



*Mrs. Stenhouse, in her reference to Kelsey, says: "If I remember 
rightly, he said that the train was divided into two parts," a qualifica- 
tion indicating that the Stenhouses were not quite sure of what Kelsey 
had told them on this point. The truth appears to be. as Mr. Bancroft 
states, that there were Missourians in the Arkansas party: and this 



130 WHITNKY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Southern Route Chosen. — ^The emigrants remained several 
days, encamped near the Jordan River, undecided as to whether 
they should take the northern or the southern route, in con- 
tinuing their journey westward. Charles C. Rich, one of the 
"Mormon" leaders, who was well acquainted with the country 

ahead of the travelers, advised 
them to pursue the northern 
route, by way of Bear River 
and the Humboldt. The Ar- 
kansas company, acting upon 
this advice, went as far as Bear 
River, and then returned, hav- 
ing decided after all to follow 
the southern trail, it being 
nearer to their destination. 
Both companies proceeded 
southward, with the Arkansas 
emigrants in the lead. They 
traveled by way of Provo, 
Springville, Payson, Fillmore, 
and the smaller settlements 
beyond. 

Rescued by "Mormons." — 
The Dukes company was de- 
layed by trouble with the In- 
dians, one of whom they shot; 
c. c. RICH. |-^Q q£ ^iigji- number being 

wounded in return. This occurred near Beaver, a new settle- 
ment between Fillmore and Parowan.* Attacked by the red 
men, these emigrants were compelled to corral their wagons 
and seek protection in a rifle pit. Through the intervention of 
Utah militia ofiicers — "Mormons" — the Indians were placated 
and the emigrants allowed to proceed. When beyond the last 
of the line of settlements, they were again attacked and again 
saved, the mediators being "Mormon" guides and interpreters, 
who persuaded the Missourians to buy off the savages with 




view is borne out by a stalcment 
emigrants boasted of participating 
from Missouri. The "Wild Cats" 
Kelsey with the Dukes company, 
the Fancher party. 

'■'l>eaver was founded in Fcliru 
The first three to arrive on Bcav 
Simeon F. Howd, and James P. 
and George A. Smith organized t 
with Simeon F. Howd as preside 
clerk. Cedar City and Fillmore al 
settlement. 



from some of the settlers, that the 
in the expulsion of the "Mormons'' 
may have been confounded by Mr. 
which escaped tlie fate that befell 

ary 1856, by settlers from Parowan. 
cr Creek were Wilson G. Nowers, 
Anderson. Others soon followed, 
hem into a branch of the Church, 
nt, and Edward W. Thompson as 
o contributed pioneers to the new 



THE MOUNTAIN Ml-AlJOWS MASSACkE. 131 

their loose stock. These travelers reached the Pacific Coast 
in safety.* 

The Arkansas Company, — Meanwhile the Arkansas com- 
])any had met with a horrible fate. They nunil)cred about 
thirty families, aggregating one hundred and thirty-seven per- 
sons, including the "Wild Cat" Missourians. After passing 
Fillmore they encamped, about the 20th of August, at Corn 
Creek (Kanosh), and several days later proceeded by way of 
Beaver and Parowan to Cedar City, which was then the most 
southern Utah settlement of any consequence. There the trail 
branched to the southwest, crossing the desert to Southern 
California. 

Attitude of the Settlers. — It is an oft-repeated assertion 
that the people along the southern route, acting under orders 
from Salt Lake City, refused to sell supplies to these emi- 
grants, who had been foredoomed to destruction. This in- 
famous falsehood — for it is nothing else — was refuted b}' sworn 
testimony taken in court when the Mountain Meadows case 
was thoroughly sifted. It was shown that the people were 
advised b}^ their leaders to save their grain, as it was a time 
of scarcity, and not feed it to their animals, nor sell it to trav- 
elers for that purpose; but they were to furnish all passing 
companies with what they actually needed for breadstuff. Hon. 
Jesse N. Smith, of Parowan, testified that he sold flour and salt 
to the Arkansas emigrants, and having flour to spare, asked 
them if they wanted more. They wanted vegetables, but he 
had none to spare. The emigrants obtained supplies at Cedar, 
as they had previously obtained them at Parowan. t 

*Hon. Silas S. Smith, in his testimony at the first Lee trial, men- 
tions both the Fancher and the Dukes companies, and the part played 
by him in behalf of the latter, when they were in trouble with the 
Indians near Beaver. Mr. Smith acted as intervener by request of 
Colonel Dame, at Parowan. 

The Dukes company is also referred to, though not by name, in a 
little book entitled "Jacob Hamblin" edited by James A. Little and 
published at Salt Lake City in 1881. Hamblin was a "Mormon" 
frontiersman, explorer, and missionary to the Indians. He had a 
ranch near Mountain Meadows, but was in Northern Utah when the 
massacre took place. Hamblin, with Samuel Knight and Dudley 
Leavitt. was afterwards instrumental in saving the Dukes company 
when it was attacked the second time by Indian?. This was on 
^luddy Creek, one hundred and fifty miles beyond Cedar City._ Later 
in the same autumn Hamblin, directed by Governor Young, piloted a 
company of "Gentile" merchants safe through to California. They 
had been doing business at Salt Lake City, and were fleeing from the 
prospect of trouble between Utah and the General Government. 
("Jacob Hamblin." pp. 46-48.) 

tColonel William H. Dame was commander of the Parowan 
Military District. .A.fter Governor Young proclaimed martial law, 
which was about the time the massacre occurred. Colonel Dame re- 



/ 



132 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

At Mountain Meadows.— From Cedar the travelers passed 
on to Mountain Meadows, thirty or forty miles from that town, 
and several miles off the main line of travel. On a beautiful 
grassy spot, a piece of elevated pasture land, they halted for 
rest and to recuperate their horses and cattle preparatory to 
the journey before them. While they were thus encamped 
the tragedy was enacted which has since been known as the 
Mountain Meadows Massacre. 

It was the deed of Indians and white men. The leader, 
John Doyle Lee, was a farmer among the red men and had 
great influence over them. He directed the Indian attack, and 
personally took part in that cruel butchery of men, women, 
and children. 

Attempts to Implicate the Innocent.— For a long while 
attempts to fix the responsibility for this awful crime proved 
unavailing. Prosecuting officers and judges were determined 
to place the blame where it did not belong. As soon as it 
became known that white men were engaged in the massacre, 
efforts were made to implicate persons who had nothing what- 
ever to do with it. When sober reason asserted itself, and a 
demand for simple justice superseded an insane desire to judic- 
ially murder the innocent, every difficulty in the way of a 
thorough investigation of the deed and the punishment of its 
perpetrators vanished. 

Bancroft on the Massacre. — Bancroft's History of Utah 
(p. 544) comments thus upon the Mountain Meadows Mas- 
sacre: "It may as well be understood at the outset that this 
horrible crime, so often and so persistently charged upon the 
Mormon Church and its leaders, was the crime of an indir 
vidual, the crime of a fanatic of the worst stamp, one who was 
a member of the Mormon Church, but of whose intentions 
the Church knew nothing, and whose bloody acts, the members 
of the Church, high and low, regard with as much abhorrence 
as any out of the Church. Indeed, the blow fell upon the 
brotherhood with threefold force and damage. There was the 
cruelty of it, which wrung their hearts ; and there was the 
strength it lent. their enemies further to malign and molest 
them. The Mormons denounce the Mountain Meadows 
Massacre, and every act connected therewith, as earnestly and 
honestly as any in the outside world. This is abundantly 
proved and may be accepted as a historical fact." 



ceived from him a copy of the proclamation with a circular (sent to 
prominent men all over the Territory) in which were these words: 
"And what we said in regard to saving the grain and provisions, we 
say again, let there be no waste." At its close the circular said: 
"Save life always when it is possible.. We do not wish to shed a 
drop of blood if it can be avoided." 



THE MOUNTAIN AlEADOWS MASSACRE. 133 

Mr. Bancroft is right. For that ghastly and gruesome 
deed, which every citizen of Utah regards as a public calamity, 
a stain upon the fair name of the State, no church, no com- 
munity, is responsible. Letting alone the question of principle, 
in force at all times, it is incontrovertible that nothing could 
have been farther from the policy of the "Mormon" people at 
that period than the massacre at Mountain Meadows.* 

The Conduct of the Emigrants.- — It has always been 
alleged that these emigrants, or a portion of them, acted in a 
reprehensible manner while passing through the Utah settle- 
ments; that some of them went so far as to poison springs of 
water, also the dead body of an ox, and that several Indians 
died from drinking at those springs and eating of the infected 
carcass. They have also been charged with insolent and law- 
less conduct toward the white settlers, violating their munic- 
ipal regulations, destroying property, insulting women, and 
defying the officers of the law who protested against their bad 
behavior. It has been represented that they gloated over the 
former mobbings and drivings of the people, the murder of 
their Prophet and other leading men, declaring that they had 
taken part in those atrocities, and rejoicing at the prospect of 
the extermination of the entire community by the army then 
coming from the East. Moreover, that they even threatened 
to return, after taking their women and children to a place of 
safety, and assist the troops in the work of rapine and de- 
struction. 

The slain emigrants cannot, of course, speak for them- 
selves, either in denial or admission of the truth of these 
charges. But there have always been proxies who were more 
than willing to assert that the travelers conducted themselves 
with strict propriety, neither committing the deeds nor utter- 
ing the threats attributed to them. Anti-"Mormon" writers 

*The seeming connection between tlie crime and a remark made 
by Governor Young to Captain Van Vliet, is treated thus !)}• Mr. 
Bancroft. After quoting the "Mormon" leader as saying (September 
9, 1857): "If the Government dare to force the issue, I shall not hold 
the Indians by the wrist any longer." "If the issue comes, you may 
tell the Government to stop all emigration across the continent, for 
the Indians will kill all who attempt it," the historian adds: "The 
threat and the deed came so near together as to lead many to believe 
that one was the result of the other. But a moment's reflection will 
show that they were too nearly simultaneous for this to be the case; 
that in the absence of telegraph and railroad it would be impossible 
to execute such a deed three hundred miles away in two days." 

According to Wilford Woodrufif's journal, however, the conversa- 
tion between Governor Young and Captain Van Vliet in which that 
particular remark occurs, took place two days after the massacre, 
instead of two days before.— Roberts' history of the Mormon Church, 
".Americana" for June. 1913. 



134 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

upon the theme have almost invariably taken this ground, in 
their eagerness to depict the crime in its most hideous aspects. 
As if it were not sufficiently atrocious to suit their purpose, 
they have painted it blacker still, hoping thereby to injure, 
not the guilty perpetrators, but those whom they hate far more 
— the leaders, dead and living, of the "Mormon" Church.* 

On the other hand, those guilty of such a deed, when they 
fully realized its awful consequences, would be exceedingly 
liable to exaggerate the offenses of the emigrants, in order to 
palliate "the deep damnation of their taking off." Possibly 
too much has been affirmed, and too much denied, upon this 
particular point. 

The fact remains, however, and it is a well attested fact, 
that some of those emigrants conducted themselves in a man- 
ner the reverse of commendable. Impartial history will par- 
allel the assertion that the emigrants conducted themselves 
properly, with the statement quoted by Mr. Stenhouse (a non- 
"Mormon" when he wrote) that the camp of the "Wild Cat" 



*The latest attempt of this kind is by R. N. Baskin of Salt Lake 
City. As late as the year 1914 — practically the present hour — when 
the ancient bitterness between "Mormons" and "Gentiles" has so far 
abated that they can affiliate socially, politically, and in business, as 
never before, this Bourbon of the dead past, who "learns nothing" and 
"forgets nothing." drags from the grave and holds up to public view 
the skeletons of the old blood-curdling sensations which all good 
citizens desire to have buried in oblivion. In the face of all the evi- 
dence to the contrary, he tries to make it appear that the "Mormon" 
Church and its leading men were responsible for the Mountain 
Meadows Massacre. That crime was committed in 1857; Mr. Baskin, 
according to his own account, came to Utah in 1865. All he knows 
about the massacre he learned from others after his arrival here; and 
the same is true of more of his so-called "Reminiscences." They are 
largely a rehash of stale anti-"Mormon" stories, based upon the testi- 
mony of apostates, jail-birds, and self-confessed murderers. He com- 
plains of inaccuracies in other writings, while his own book fairly 
bristles witli them. It abounds in coarse abuse and venomous vituper- 
ation. Under pretense of correcting alleged misstatements of history, 
he vents his personal spleen and pours the vitriol of his implacable, 
hatred upon "Mormons" and "Mormonism" in general. A special 
feature is the revival of the musty Munchausenism respecting "Dan- 
ites" or blood-avengers who, according to Baskin, once made a busi- 
ness of killing apostates and enemies of the "Mormon" Church. It 
does not seem to have dawned upon his comprehension, that if the 
extravagant tales he repeats and his frenetic "opinions" founded 
thereon were even half way true, he would never have lived to write 
any reminiscences. Had there been any "Danites" they would have 
disposed of him long ago. The mere fact that this inveterate "Mor- 
mon"-hater is alive and well ought to be accepted as conclusive proof 
of the non-existence of such an organization, past or present. He 
has lived here fifty years, not only unmolested, but treated with kind- 
ness and consideration, which he now repays by endeavoring to injure 
the people who made it possible for him to append to his signature 
as a private citizen, "Ex-Chief Justice of the Supreme Bench of Utah." 



THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. IJo 

Missourians "resounded with vuli^ar songs, boisterous roaring, 
and 'tall swearing.' " Their misconduct was so pronounced 
that the decent and respectable emigrants were advised not 
to travel with them, lest, through their ill behavior, trouble 
might come upon all. — "Rocky Mountain Saints," p]). 427. 
428.* 

Notwithstanding this improper behavior, the emigrants 
were well treated by most of the settlers; but for some reason 
feeling ran high against them in the remote and isolated dis- 
trict where they were sacrificed to savage greed and resent- 
ment, reinforced and directed by fanatical fury. 

How the Deed was Done. — The attack at Mountain Mead- 
ows began at dawn of September 7th, when an overwhelming 
force of Indians poured deadly volleys upon the emigrants, 
from the hills and ravines surrounding the place of their ei. 
campment. In the opening onslaught seven men were killed 
and sixteen wounded. The survivors made a brave defense, 
and held the enemy at bay. At this time the only white man 
known to have been with the Indians was John D. Lee. Sub- 
sequently others came upon the scene, lured to the Meadows, 
as they claimed, by the representation that their services were 
needed to bury the dead. Some of them participated in the 
butchery that followed. The siege was maintained until the 
morning of Friday the 11th, when Lee induced the emigrants 
to surrender, promising to convey them to a place of safety. 
Trusting in his word, they gave up their arms, and were mas- 
sacred after marching out of their entrenchments. Seventeen 
children, ranging in age from two or three months to seven 
years, were spared and eventually returned to their friends in 
Arkansas, Congress having made an appro]:)riation for that 
purpose. The propert)' of the dead emigrants was disposed 
of b\' those who slew them. 

Baseless Theories — The Pratt Murder — The Reformation. 
^To render plausible the theory that the "Mormon" Church 
was the real culprit in the case, it has been cited that this 
company of emigrants came from a State where, only a few 
months before, one of the Church leaders had been murdered. 
It is true that Parley P. Pratt, accused of abducting the chil- 
dren of Hector H. McLean, had stood trial. May 13, 1857, be- 
fore' a United States court at Van Buren, Arkansas. Acquitted 



*Readcrs of ihe Baskin "Reminiscences" will look in vain therein 
for any alhision to these incidents. While their anlhor quotes copionsly 
from the Stenhouse books, he is discreetly silent upon the subject ol 
the "Missouri Wild Cats" and their unseemly l)chavior. The reason 
i'; apparent. The mention of such things would have marred the 
l)icture he was painting, in which he desired to exhibit the emigrant - 
in the best light, and the "Mormons" in the worst light, possible. 



136 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



of the charge brought against him, he was liberated and al- 
lowed to proceed on his way.. Mounting his horse, he was rid- 
ing northward through a sparsely settled region toward the 
point where he purposed joining an emigrant train bound for 
Utah, when he was overtaken by McLean, who plunged a 
bowie knife into his victim's side, and after the unarmed man 
had fallen from his horse, shot him with a pistol snatched from 
the hand of an accomplice. The murderer was never brought 
to justice. He claimed that the man he slew had alienated the 
affections of his wife; but Mrs. McLean alleged drunkenness 
and cruelt}- as the causes of separation. She was endeavoring 

to regain possession of her 
children, torn from her in 
San Francisco and taken to 
New Orleans, and Mr. Pratt 
Avas assisting her, when he 
was arrested and put on trial. 
The theory of Church 
responsibility based upon 
this incident is met by the 
fact that the most serious 
troubles of the "Mormon" 
people had taken place not 
in Arkansas, but in Missouri 
and Illinois. In Missouri had 
occurred the Haun's Mill 
Massacre, in which a score 
of "Mormon" settlers were 
ruthlessly butchered, prior 
to a general devastation of 
''Mormon" homes and the 
mid-winter expulsion of the 
entire community from the 
State ; and yet Captain 
Dukes and his Missouri conii)an}' were rescued from Indians 
and assisted toward their destination by "Mormons." loseph 
and Hyrum Smith had been murdered in Illinois, and yet Judge 
Drummond and others from that State were spared by the 
dreadful "Danites" or "Avenging Angels," whose secret ex- 
istence was asserted. Moreover, Parley P. Pratt had been 
acquitted in Arkansas, before his murder — probably in Indian 
Territory — by an assassin from |Louisiana. There was no 
apparent reason, therefore, why emigrants from Arkansas 
should be hated by the "Mormon" people. On the contrary, 
there was good cause why that State should be grateful Iv re- 
membered by them. At the time of the exodus from Illinois, 
when an appeal was made by the homeless community to the 




p. p. PRATT. 



THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 137 

Governors of all the States, asking for protection and an 
asylum within their borders, the Governor of Arkansas, and he 
alone, answered the petition, responding to it with a generous 
and sympathetic epistle. 

Some have held that the affair at Mountain Meadows was 
the indirect result of a wave of fanatical sentiment created by 
a movement in Utah known as "The Reformation," which be- 
gan in the latter part of 1856, a year before the massacre took 
place. A call to repentance was made by the "Mormon" 
Church upon all wrong-doers within its pale; much strong 
language was used by the leaders in their denunciation of 
ini'juity; and during the next six months "the inside of the 
platter" was pretty thoroughly cleansed by the reclamation or 
excommunication of the offending members. That there was 
much enthusiasm, and some fanaticism, as the fruit of this 
crusade against vice, is not denied by those who know best 
concerning its character and spirit ; but they utterly repudiate 
the idea of any connection between the reformation and a deed 
of blood compared with which the sins the people had l)een 
warned to forsake were as molehills to a mountain. A call to 
repentance could hardly have been cohstrued, even by the most 
fanatical, as a command or an encouragement to commit 



crime 



* 



The Probable Causes. — There need be no vain theorizing 
over this matter — no straining after imaginary reasons. The 
most consistent hypothesis that can be advanced to account 
for the atrocity at Mountain Meadows, is the excitement and 
agitation over the coming of Johnston's Army, and the fear of 
what that army intended doing in Utah.f Everything goes to 
show that these feelings of alarm, intensified by words and acts 
of special provocation, were largely if not mainly responsible 
for the terrible fate that befell the emigrants. The unwise 
threats made by some of them — for that such threats were 
made has always been affirmed by those cognizant of the facts 
— would be extremely potent in producing the fatal result. 
Exonerating from re])roach all reputable members of the ill- 
starred company, the fact remains that a portion of them, ac- 
cording to the testimony of "Mormons" and non-"Mormons" 
alike, were far from being the white-souled saints that certain 



*One of the most active promoters of the Reformation was Pres- 
ident Jedediah M. Grant. He virtually gave his life to that cause. 
His strenuous exertions in warning, exhorting, baptizing, and re- 
claiming the erring, exhausted his vitality and resulted in liis death. 
December 1. 1856. 

t"The terrible wrongs and persecutions of Missouri and Illinois 
came up vividly in the minds of those who had suffered in them and 
greatly intensified the public feeling." — Jacob Hamblin, p. 52. 



lo8 W J111'N1':V'S I'Ul'ULAR iliSiURV UF UTAii. 

writers would have the public believe. Those wild Missourians 
were quite capable of making the bloodthirstx' threats attrib- 
uted to them, and of carr}-ing out those threats, as "Mormon" 
history amply shows. And the spirit they manifested — they 
being the aggressive, dominant element in the company — 
would naturally be regarded by the settlers, however mis- 
takenly, as the spirit of the entire camp. It is quite conceiv- 
able, too, that some of the Arkansas emigrants were of the 
same mood, and that they joined with the Missourians in their 
tantalizing talk and ofifensive conduct. 

No Justification. — All this does not justify the massacre. 
Nothing can justify that inhuman and indefensible deed. But 
the facts here presented help to explain why the massacre took 
place, and no honest historian or fair-minded student of history 
can consistently ignore this phase of the question. 

Local, Not General. — Resentment and fear were probably 
the main causes of the tragedy. Savage ferocity, springing 
from greed or revenge, also figured in the catastrophe. But 
the causes were local, not general. The feelings of exaspera- 
tion that conspired with other conditions to bring about the 
dreadful fatality, were confined to one county of the Territory, 
to one or two small towns within that county, and to a few 
of the white inhabitants of those towns. As cruel and as crim- 
inal as the massacre itself, is the attempt to place upon a whole 
people, upon an entire community, the burden of a crime com- 
mitted by a few of its members — a crime which nobody de- 
fends, but which all classes unite in denouncing and execrating 
as a most dastardly and most damnable deed. 

Time and Place. — Such atrocities as those at Haun's Mill 
and at Mountain Meadows can only occur at certain periods 
and in certain places — usually in warlike times and in parts 
remote from the busy centers of population. Events and 
utterances of little consequence in cities, are, in villages, mag- 
nified beyond their due proportions, and feelings often spring 
up in such localities that are not found in more thickly peopled 
haunts, where communication is freer, business more engross- 
ing, and public sentiment more tolerant. Great as was the 
agitation at Salt Lake City in the autumn of 1857, it was tem- 
pered and controlled by the presence and wise counsels of far- 
sighted leaders. Had these same men been upon the scene of 
the massacre, a desire to retaliate for acts and utterances such 
as those charged against the emigrants would have been held 
in check. The demands of prudence would have been recog- 
nized, whatever the provocation. The general welfare would 
have been considered, and a different method chosen to con- 
serve it, than the one adr)pted by that handful of misguided 



THE MOUNTAIN All'ADuWS MASSACRE. 139 



fanatics who were one with the infnriate Indian horde in com- 
mitting' the horrible deed. 

Division of Sentiment — Advice Sought. — Yet even in that 
remote region, the cool heads outnumbered the hot ones, wise 
counsels in part prevailed, and forbearance and self-control 
were manifested by the humane and hospital)le majority of the 
people. The question of dealing with these emigrants, on 
account of the lawless acts and ferocious threats mentioned, 
was debated both at Parowan and Cedar, after the company 
had passed through those places ; and it was urged by some 
that inasmuch as the strangers had declared themselves en- 
emies they should be treated as such, and at least held as 
prisoners of war. Others were equally urgent that the trav- 
elers should not be molested. 

What would be the outcome? Certain hot-headed zealots, 
some of them prominent and influential in that part, favored 
the most drastic measures, and the Indians were gathering in 

force between Cedar and the 

Meadows, their purpose be- 
ing to attack and plunder the 
emigrant camp. The situa- 
tion was critical. In view of 
the circumstances it was 
finally decided to submit the 
question, with full informa- 
tion, to the authorities at 
Salt Lake City; to send a 
courier to the Governor of 
the Territory, asking his ad- 
vice as to what should be 
done.* Meanwhile the In- 
dians were to be pacified and 
prevented if possible from 
executing their fell design. 
Colonel Isaac C. Haight, in 
command of the militia at 
Cedar, wrote an order to that 
effect and sent it to John D. 
Lee, "Major of the Post." 
Haight also wrote a dispatch t. ii. hasla.m. 

to Governor Young, which was carried by James H. Haslam. 
a mounted messenger, to the far away capital. Haslam could 
scarcely have started upon his errand when word came to 
Haight that the camp at Mountain Meadows had been attacked, 

*Testimony nf T.ahan Morrill at tlie second and final trial of John 
D. Lee. 




140 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

that some of the emigrants had been killed, and that the sur- 
vivors were in a state of siege. 

Governor Young Tries to Save the Emigrants. — Haslam 
left Cedar late in the afternoon of Monday the 7th. Riding fast 
and changing horses frequently, he succeeded in reaching Salt 
Lake City on the morning of Thursday the 10th. He at once 
delivered the dispatch to Governor Young, who, seeing at a 
glance the perilous situation, with all the issues involved, and 
the need of urgent haste to ward off the threatened catastrophe, 
immediately answered Haight's message, and handed the letter 
to the courier with these words : "Go with all speed, spare no 
horse flesh. The emigrants must not be meddled with, if it 
takes all Iron County to prevent it. They must go free and un- 
molested."* 

Haslam reached Cedar City on Sunday the 13th, and gave 
the Governor's letter to Colonel Haight. That letter. contained 
these words — the only reference to emigrants in the communi- 
cation : "In regard to the emigration trains passing through 
our settlements, we must not interfere with them until they 
are first notified to keep away. You must not meddle with 
them. There are no other trains that I know of. If those 
who are there will leave, let them go in peace." Haight, as he 
read the letter, exclaimed, "Too late, too late," and burst into 
tears. The massacre had already taken place. f 

Why the Effort Failed. — Wliat precipitated the tragedy, 
pending the arrival of the dispatch that would have prevented 
it, is not certainly known. The accounts are very conflicting. 
Lee. in an alleged "confession," published after his death, lays 
the blame upon Haight, whom he accuses not only of inciting 
him to stir up the Indians against the emigrants, but of subse- 
quently issuing an order for the massacre. But such testimony 
is, of course, not unimpeachable. Lee also declares that 
Haight accused Colonel Dame of issuing the fatal order. But 
why was such an order issued — if indeed it was issued? Why 
was the deed done? The probable reason is this: The emi- 
Sfrants had learned that white men were in league with the 



*Haslam's testimony at the Lee trial. See also his supplemental 
testimony, dated December 4, 1884, attested January 12, 1885, and sub- 
sequently published in pamphlet form. 

tGovernor Young's letter to Colonel Haight, dated "President's 
Office, Great Salt Lake City, Sept. 10, 1857," is published entire in 
C. W. Penrose's address on "The Mountain Meadows Massacre,", de- 
livered at Salt Lake City, October 26, 1884, and afterwards issued as a 
pamphlet, with James Holt Haslam's additional testimony as a supple- 
ment. The Governor's letter may also be found in Roberts' History 
of the "Mormon" Church ("Americana" for June 1913). 



THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE. 141 

savages against them, and it was therefore determined to 
"wipe out" the company, sparing none who could tell the tale. 

Lee's False Report. — Two weeks and four days later John 
D. Lee brought to Governor Young a verbal report of the 
affair. The Governor was horrified, and wept at the recital. 
Lee laid the blame entirely upon the Indians, declaring that 
no white man took part in the killing. So said Brigham 
Young; and such also is the substance of depositions signed 
and sworn to by Wilford Woodruff and John W. Young, both 
of whom were present on the occasion.* 

The Truth Comes to Light, — Among all but the actual par- 
ticipants, there was complete acceptance of the story that the 
crime was committed solely by Indians. The white men en- 
gaged in it, before leaving the fatal field had pledged them- 
selves under the most binding oaths to maintain absolute 
secrecy as to the facts. For years the unholy promise was 
kept ; but little by little the truth leaked out. John D. Lee was 
then expelled from the Church, and Isaac C. Haight, his supe- 
rior officer, for failing to restrain him and to take prompt 
action against him, was also excommunicated. Subsequently 
Lee was brought to justice, and paid the penally of his crime. 
Others implicated in the massacre were fugitives for many 
vears, and finally died in exile. An account of the trial, con- 
viction, and execution of John D. Lee is reserved for a future 
chapter. 



*Cooie.s of tlicse depositions, and one of similar ini])ort from 
Aaron F. Farr, Sr.. may be found in the Penrose pamphlet on the 
Massacre, pp. 51-59. 



XIV. 
THE ECHO CANYON WAR. 

1857-1858. 

Johnston's Army. — The Army for Utah was now ap- 
proaching the eastern border of the Territory. Its progress, 
since leaving Fort Leavenworth, had been in the main satis- 
factory. True, the Cheyenne Indians had raided the cattle 
herds, running off eight hundred beeves, and killing one of the 

nineteen drovers; but the army 
itself had suffered no misfor- 
tune. The weather had been 
l)lcasant, and everything seem- 
ed ])ropitious for the expedi- 
tion. 

After passing the Rocky 
Mountains, however, there was 
a radical change. The experi- 
ence of the troops was then one 
continuous disaster. Frost and 
rtre combined against them. 
Johnston's campaign in Utah, 
except that no fighting took 
place, repeated on a small scale 
Napoleon's campaign in Russia. 
The Utah Militia. — The 
commander of the Expedition 
had been warned by his 
superiors to "anticipate resist- 
ance, general, organized, and 
formidable." The anticipation 
was fully realized. Since 1852 
Utah had been divided into military districts, most of them 
corresponding to the several counties of the Territory, and 
laws had been enacted for the further organization of the 
militia, still known by its reminiscent title, "The Nauvoo 
Legion." In the spring of 1857 the Territory had been redis- 
tricted. and eight days after Governor Young learned of the 
coming of the army. General Wells issued instructions to the 
district commanders, requiring them to hold their forces in 
readiness to march at short notice, and to make all needful 
preparations for a winter campaign. The Legion then num- 
bered a little over six thousand men, about one-third of whom 
{oak the field. I'loin early in August warlike preparations 
went forward, until the militia were ri\ady to meet those whom 
thev regarded as foes and invaders. 




GENERAL WELLS. 



Till': I'XllO LAW UN VVAK. 143 

Martial Law Proclaimed.— Just before the first of the 
Federal troops crossed the Utah line, Governor Young pro- 
claimed martial law, forbidding all armed forces to enter the 
Territor}- and directing the militia to repel any attempt at in- 
vasion. The date of this proclamation was September 15, 1857. 
A copy of the document was forwarded to Colonel Alexander, 
who commanded the vanguard of the approaching army. Citi- 
/cens of Utah traveling or sojourning in other lands were in- 
vited to return and rally for the common defense. Settlements 
formed by "Mormon" colonists beyond the limits of the Ter- 
ritory were now broken up, the inhabitants moving back to 
their former homes. 

Camp Winfield.— Ignoring the Governor's proclamation, 
Colonel Alexander pushed on to Ham's Fork of Green River, 
/and there established Camp Winfield, twenty miles northeast 
of Fort Bridger. He reached his camp ground on the 28th ol 
September, having made forced marches for several days in 
order to overtake and protect the supply trains that preceded 
the army across the Rocky Mountains. 

General Wells — Echo Canyon. — About this time General 
Wells with his staff left Salt Take City for Echo Canyon, where 
he established headquarters. His entire force then numbered 
about twelve hundred and fifty men, made up of companies 
from the various military districts. Twice that number, how- 
ever, saw active service 1)efore the campaign ended.* 

Echo Canyon, the main route through the mountains, com- 
manded all the passes and defiles leading directly to Salt Lake 
A^alley. (ieneral Wells encamped at a place called "The Nar- 
rows," about fotir miles above the mouth of the canyon. There, 
where the rugged road winds between over-hanging cliffs hun- 
dreds of feet in height, a small force, it was thought, might 
hold in check a large arm}-. 

*At the headquarters of the Utali militia, on ihc 21st of Novem- 
ber, the following infantry organizations were reported as present: 
The Fifth Regiment, from the Weber Military District, under Colonel 
Chauncy W. West; the Second Regiment, Second Brigade, under 
Colonef Thomas Callister; Davis County troops, under Colonel 
Philemon C. Merrill: Provo troops, under Colonel W. B. Pace: Pay- 
son troops, under Major A. K. Thurber; Lehi companies, under Major 
Tfyde: Extra Battalion, under Major Rowberry: First Battalion, Third 
Regiment, First Brigade, under Major Sharp: Second Battalion of the 
same regiment, under IVIajor Blair; and the .Silver Greys, under Colonel 
Harmon. The Second Battalion of Life Guards, under Major John 
D. T. McAllister, and a company of light artillery under Adjutant 
.\twood, were also present. The aggregate force was nineteen hun- 
dred and fifty-eight men. commanded by Colonel Nathaniel V. Jones. 
There were also several cavalry commands, under Colonel Robert T. 
Burton, Majors Lot Smith and William Mnvwell. Captain Andrew Cun- 
ningham, O. P. Rockwell and others. 



y 



144 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Leaving most of his men in camp, the General, with a light 
escort, went on to Fort Bridger. He had previously ordered 
Colonel N. V. Jones, with the main body, to do all in his power 
to render the canyon impassable, by digging trenches and 
building dams, that it might be flooded; and by constructing 
breastworks and piling boulders upon the heights, for use 

against the troops if they at- 
tempted to force a passage. 

Colonel Burton's Recon- 
poisance. — At Fort Bridger 
General Wells met Colonel 
Robert T. Burton who, with a 
bod) of cavalry, had been 
reconnoitering since the middle 
of August. Two of his com- 
mand, Briant Stringham and 
N. V. Jones, had guided Cap- 
tain VsLn Vliet to Salt Lake 
City. Colonel Burton reported 
the establishment of Camp 
Winfield and the location of the 
(Government supply trains. 

General Wells and Colonel 
Alexander. — On the last day of 
September General Wells sent 
a communication to Colonel 
Alexander, calling attention to 
the fact that the latter had dis- 
regarded the proclamation forbidding armed forces to enter 
Utah, and directing him to retire, or else disarm his force and 
deposit his arms and ammunition with Lewis Robison, Quar- 
termaster-General of the Territory., Enclosed were copies of 
the proclamation and a letter from Governor Young, stating 
that if the troops fell short of provisions they would be fur- 
nished on application. General Wells added that he and his 
men were there to carry out the Governor's instructions. 

Colonel Alexander answered courteously, stating that he 
would submit the communication to the Commanding General 
as soon as he arrived. "In the meantime," he added, "I have 
only to say that these troops are here by order of the President 
of the United States, and their future movements will depend 
entirely upon orders issued by competent military authority.* 




ROBliRT T. BURTON. 



*Colonel Alexander addressed his communication to "Brigham 
Young, Esq., Governor of Utah Territor}-." Governor Young had not 
been officially notified of the appointment of his successor, nor had 
that successor, Governor Ciunming, qualified for the discharge of his 
duties. 



THE ECHO CANYON WAR. 



145 



A Bloodless Campaign. — Such a reply was doubtless an- 
ticipated. An alternative plan of campaign had been matured 
in Salt Lake City before General Wells went to the front. 
Steps were now taken to convince the Government that the 
people of Utah were in earnest, and would not, without a strug- 
gle, permit the army to pass the Wasatch Mountains. At the 
same time it was determined to take no life, unless absolutely 
unavoidable, and orders to that effect were issued. Not even 
when fired upon by the Govern- 
ment troops, did the militia dis- 
regard these instructions. 

Government Trains Burned. 
— Upon the return of his mes- 
senger with Colonel Alexan- 
der's reply, General Wells or- 
dered Major Lot Smith to turn 
back or burn the Government 
supply trains then on the way 
to Camp Winfield. On the 
night of the 3rd of October, 
Major Smith, at the head oi 
forty-three mounted rangers 
set out toward Green River, 
and after riding nearly all night 
came upon an ox train moving 
westward. The captain, a man 
named Rankin, was told that 
he must "head about" and go 
the other way. "Where's your 
authority?" demanded Rankin. 

"Here's a part of it," answered Smith, pointing to the men 
behind him, "and the rest is out there in the brush." Rankin, 
after a strong protest, started eastward, but was met next day 
by Federal troops, who took out his lading, leaving the wagons 
and teams standing. Major Smith burned the next trams that 
he encountered— two commanded by Captain Dawson, and one 
by Captain Simpson. "For God's sake don't burn the trams! 
pleaded Dawson. "It's for His sake that I'm gomgto burn 
them." said Smith, and forthwith the torch was applied. An 
Irishman called "Big Jim." the onlv n.)n-"M()rmon" among the 
rangers, was one of the torch wieldcrs. Captain Snnpson was 
..ut' hunting cattle when the cavalrv rode up and disarmed his 
teamsters. He was a brave man. and would have fought, had 
he not been at so great a disadvantage. Reluctantly he sur- 
rendered his pistols, and was allowed lo keep two wagons 
loaded with provisions. The rangers helped tluMn-rlv. to 




LOT SMITH. 



146 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

whatever they needed, and then rode away, "leaving the 
wagons all ablaze."* 

The Motive Behind the Act. — Thus it was that Lot Smith 
burned the Government trains. The most daring part of the 
deed was the order directing it. If the people of Utah could 
be charged with treason and rebellion upon the rumored de- 
struction of United States Court records, what would now be 
said and done, when Government property had actually been 
destroyed, and the proof of it was plain and unmistakable? 
Those responsible for the act were fully aware of the risk they 
were running. They were determined to have an investiga- 
tion, and a leaf from the book of Absalom versus Joab (2 Sam- 
uel 14:29-33) made clear to them the most effective course to 
pursue. 

Militia Officers Captured. — About the time that Lot Smith 
started upon his errand, one similar, though not so successful, 
was undertaken by Major Joseph Taylor, who was sent with 
forty or fifty men "to the Oregon road, near the bend of Bear 
River," to co-operate with Colonel Burton and further impede 
the progress of Government troops and trains. "Burn the 
whole country before them and on their flanks ; keep them from 
sleeping by night surprises ; blockade the roads by felling trees 
and destroying river fords ; take no life, but destroy their trains, 
and stampede or drive away their animals at every oppor- 
tunit3^" Such were the instructions that Major Taylor set out 
to execute. After passing Fort Bridger he separated from his 
command and returned to that post upon important business. 
Coming unexpectedly upon a body of United States troops — 
for the infantry were again on the march — he and his adjutant, 
William Stowell, were surrounded and captured. Taylor 
eventually escaped and rejoined his comrades, but Stowell re- 
mained a prisoner until the "war" was over.f 

*The trains destroyed belonged to Rnssell and Waddell, Govern- 
ment contractors, and were loaded with subsistence stores for the 
army. The stores inchided clothing and provisions, such as ham, 
bacon, flour, crackers, beans, cofifee, tea, sugar, vinegar, dried peaches, 
dessicated vegetables, molasses, soap and candles. 

Wliile the rangers were in camp, after burning the trains, one of 
their number, Orson P. Arnold, then a mere youth, was dangerously 
wounded by the accidental discharge of a rifle. The heavy ball passed 
through his thigh, breaking the bone in a dreadful manner. It was 
feared that Arnold would bleed to death; but the broken bone was set, 
the wound bandaged, and the youth placed upon an improvised litter 
of poles and blankets and carried, between two horses, a distance of 
thirty miles, to a place of safety. 

tin a wallet found upon the person of Major Taylor when he was 
captured by the Federal troops, was an order signed by General Wells, 
the back of which bore the usual inscription, "Shed no blood." This 
order was taken to General Johnston, and was afterwards sent to 
Washington, where it figured in tlie Congressional debates of the next 
session. 



TJIR ]-:C110 CANYON WAR. 147 

Guerilla Tactics. — Meantime other militia commands 
were scouring the countr\' along the route of the advancini^ 
army, annoying it every liour by threatened or actual raids. 
One cause of discomfiture to the troops was the absence of their 
cavalry, which was still far in the rear. The Utah rangers 
were well mounted, and had their own way with the half dis- 
heartened infantry. None of the shots fired at the rangers took 
cfifect. 

An Attempted Detour. — Finding the direct n»ute to Salt 
Lake Valley barred against him, Colonel Alexander attempted 
a detour toward Soda Springs, there to await milder weather; 
but the nimble rangers hung upon the flanks of his long and 
cumbersome column, keeping up their dispiriting guerilla war- 
fare. At a certain place he expected to be joined by Colonel 
Smith with supply trains. But Smith did not come; he had 
not left South Pas's, and with Colonel Cooke and the dragoons, 
still farther behind, was having a sad experience in the frost, 
snow, and biting blasts of that pitiless region. At length 
Alexander called a halt and convened a council of his ofticers. 
Some of them were in favor of forcing a passage through Echo 
Canyon, but cooler counsels prevailed. That it would be im- 
prudent to proceed farther, was generally admitted, and mat- 
ters now came to a standstill. 

Colonel Alexander and Governor Young.— On the 12th of 
October Colonel Alexander wrote to Governor Young, com- 
plaining of the hostile reception given to United States troops 
on the threshold of the Territory, and of the methods by which 
his advance was being opposed. He declared that these acts 
constituted rebellion and hostility to the General Government. 
"It becomes you to look to the consequences," he added. 
That the Governor had been tampering with the mails, "mter- 
cepting public and private letters." was also intmiated. 

Governor Young, in reply, acknowledged that he had pro- 
claimed martial law and called out the militia to enforce his 
proclamation, but denied that he had intercepted any letters^ 
He reminded Colonel Alexander that the Government itself 
was responsible for the stopping of the mails. He justified the 
mode of warfare bv which the citizens were defending their 
homes and again commanded the troops to leave the Icrn- 
torvofferino-to assist them to Fort Hall or some point within 
reach of supplies from the East. In conclusion the Governor 
invited the Colonel and his officers to visit Salt Lake City, 
without troops, promising them safe escort to and from the 
town, with courteous treatment during their stay.' 

TT .1 i>H,.r written two (Iriv^ earlier. Governor Youiii: lin.l 

•t " ro1on7l Vex^nle '' f onr real encmie... llic mobocrat.. 

;t^::. c^S:^U;V^m!dans. a, who.e instigation tlie present storm 



148 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

General Johnston Arrives — "Forward to Fort Bridger." — 

It was not until the first week in November that General John- 
ston joined Colonel Alexander on Black's Fork. He was ac- 
companied by Colonel Smith and his supply trains. Johnston 
was a great commander. He soon infused new life into the 
baffled and dispirited troops. Spurning- the idea of departing 
a single point from the direct route through the mountains, he 
ordered a forward movement to Fort Bridger. 

If Alexander's advance along Ham's Fork had been a 
march of discouragement, what shall be said of Johnston's pro- 
cession of misery from Black's Fork to Fort Bridger? The 
distance was only thirty-five miles, but the country crossed 
was a frozen desert, swept by November's gelid blasts, with 
little or no forage for the famishing cattle, and no fuel except 
sagebrush and willows. Many of the poor beasts dropped dead 
as they wearily trudged along, or were frozen stiff during the 
awful nights that succeeded days of arduous toil. Five hun- 
dred head of cattle were driven off the night before the march 
began. Snow, sleet, and hail fell almost continuously, the 
thermometer showing at times sixteen degrees below zero. 
Some of the men were severely frost-bitten. Fifteen days 
were consumed in reaching the point where till recently had 
stood Fort Bridger. The fort itself was no more, having been 
burned, with Fort Supply, by the militia, who were slowly 
retiring before Johnston's advance, and concentrating behind 
the rocky ramparts of Echo Canyon. 

Colonel Cooke and the Dragoons. — Colonel Cooke and his 
cavalry next came upon the scene. They had had a terrible 
experience in the storms at Devil's Gate and South Pass. 
Cooke brought one hundred and forty-four horses, and had 
lost nearly that number on the way.* 

has been gathered, had come against us, instead of you and your com- 
mand, I should never have addressed them thus. They never would 
have been allowed to reach South Pass. * * * * With you, per- 
sonally, we have no quarrel. * * ^ While I appreciate the un- 
pleasantness of your position, * * * j f^g] j^ j^y duty, as do the 
people of the Territory universally, to resist to the utmost every at- 
tempt to encroach further upon their rights." 

A similar correspondence passed between Captain R. B. Marcy, 
another of Johnston's officers, and Elder John Taylor, one of the 
Apostles of the "Mormon" Church. 

*Sai(I the Colonel in his report: "Most of the loss has occurred 
Tuuch this side of South Pass, in comparatively moderate weather. It 
has been of starvation; the earth has a no more lifeless, treeless, grass- 
less desert; it contains scarcely a wolf to glut itself on the hundreds 
of dead and frozen aiiimals which for thirty miles nearly block the 
road. With abandoned and shattered property, they mark perhaps 
beyond example in history, the steps of an advancing army with the 
horrors of a disastrous retreat." The report also stated that the 
thermometer one night marked twenty-five below zero, the cold being 
so intense that a bottle of sherry wine froze in a trunk. 



THE ECHO CANYON WAR. 149 

Camp Scott and Eckelsville. — Owing to the severity of the 
weather, the project of pushing through the mountains that 
season was abandoned. The ruins of Fort Bridger were 
utilized for the storage of supplies, and the troops went into 
winter quarters on Black's Fork.* There arose Camp Scott, 
named as Camp Winiield had been, for the General-in-chief of 
the United States Army. Near by sprang up Eckelsville, 
called after Chief Justice Eckels, who, with Governor Cum- 
ming and other Federal officers, dwelt there during the winter. 
The Chief Justice, without waiting to qualify for the duties of 
the office, organized a court, with a grand jury of teamsters 
and camp followers, and had the leading men of Utah indicted 
for treason and rebellion. 

Governor Cumming's Proclamation. — Governor Gumming, 
on the 21st of November, issued a proclamation to the people 
of the Territory, in which he said : 'T come among you with 
no prejudice or enmities, and by the exercise of a just and firm 
administration I hope to command your confidence. Freedom 
of conscience and the use of your own peculiar mode of serving 
God are sacred rights, the exercise of which is guaranteed by 
the Constitution, and with which it is not the province of the 
Government or the disposition of its representatives in the 
Territory to interfere." He then directed all armed bodies to 
disband and return to their homes. Disobedience to this com- 
mand, he stated, would "subject the offenders to the punish- 
ment due to traitors." 

Attitude of the Militia. — The militia had not the slightest 
intention of disbanding at the dictum of the new Executive. 
They were defending their homes against the despoiler — that 
was their view of the case. General Johnston might threaten 
and Governor Gumming proclaim, Judge Eckels and his grand 
jury might grind out indictments, and the whole country boil, 
as it did, with indignation, both at the "Mormons" and at Pres- 
ident Buchanan and his advisers, for creating such a situation; 
Ijut the citizen soldiers, behind their breastworks, were re- 
solved to oppose to the last any forward movement of the 
Federal army. Reinforcements from all over Utah hurried to 
the scene of the impending struggle — old men, young men, and 

*From that point, Captain Marcy made a remarkable midwinter 
trip over the mountains to New Mexico, to secure horses and mules 
to replace those which had perished, and make it possible for the Ex- 
pedition to move forward in the spring. He was accompanied by 
thirty-five volunteer companions. His Indian guides deserted him, fear- 
ing to brave tlie awful weather encountered, but the plucky captain 
and his gallant little band pushed on and succeeded in accomplishing 
their purpose. About 1,500 animals were secured, and with these 
Marcy and his comrades rejoined Johnston early in June, 1858. 



130 VVlliTNKV'S i'Ui'UJ.AR MlS'lOKY Ui- UTAH. 

boys — until the force confronting" General Johnston was nearly 
twenty-five hundred strong, or about equal in number to the 
regular troops. 

Suspension of Hostilities. — When it became evident that 
General Johnston did not intend to carry on a winter cam- 
paign, all further interference with the troops by the militia 
was forbidden. Some of the soldiers, captured by Colonel 
Thomas Callister, were released by order of Governor Young, 
who took additional steps to convince the authorities at Camp 
Scott that the people of Utah were waging, without malice, a 
purely defensive warfare. Hearing that the troops were in 
want of salt, Governor Young- sent a wagon load of the article 
with his compliments to the post commander, informing him 
that if he feared anything deleterious in the salt, the messen- 
g^ers. Jesse Earl and Henry Woodward, would taste it in his 
presence. Johnston spurned the gift, desiring "no favors from 
traitors and rebels ;" but the rejected salt, left outside the camp, 
was gladly used by the common soldiers, who purchased some 
of it from the Indians. A supply for the officers was procured 
with great difficulty from Fort Laramie.* 

The Echo Canyon Guard. — About the first of December 
the militia began to return to their homes. A patrol of fifty 
men under Captain John R. Winder was left to guard Echo 
Canyon and its approaches. They kept strict watch upon the 
Government troops, and reported every movement to head- 
quarters in Salt Lake City. Deserters from Camp Scott, both 
soldiers and teamsters, continued to pass down the canyon, 
some almost perishing with cold before reaching the militia 
outposts. By these and other means. Governor Young and his 
associates were kept informed regarding affairs east of the 
Wasatch Mountains. 



*Some of Johnston's officers were not averse to accepting favors 
from those whom he denominated "traitors and rebels." Colonel 
Alexander and Captain Marcy both received from the "Mormon" au- 
thorities at Salt Lake City copies of the Deseret News, which cour- 
tesies they gratefully acknowledged. 



XV. 
MEDIATION, PEACE AND PARDON. 

1858. 

Sentiment in the East. — In the East and especially at 
Washington, much anxiety prevailed relative to affairs in Utah. 
The Government was indignant over the disasters that had be- 
fallen the expedition, and must have winced under the goad of 
public censure, which was unsparingly applied. From all over 
the land hot denunciation was poured upon the "Mormons;" 
but leading newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic also 
criticized the course taken by the Administration. The Utah 
Expedition became known as "Buchanan's Blunder." During 
the winter, memorials from the Legislature and the citizens of 
the Territory, setting forth the true situation, were forwarded 
to the national capital. 

More Troops for Utah. — The Government, however, did 
not recede. Congress, after much discussion, during which the 
Utah question was thoroughly 
ventilated, granted a request 
from the President for more 
troops and money to carry on 
the "war." Three thousand 
men, infantry, cavalry, and ar- 
tillery, made ready to cross the 
Rocky Mountains and reinforce 
the army on Black's Fork. The 
estimated cost of this supple- 
mental expedition was al)OUt 
five million dollars. 

Colonel Kane the Media- 
tor. — At this juncture Colonel 
Thomas L. Kane, that staunch 
friend to Utah, who had known 
her leading men upon the Iowa 
frontier, proceeded to Wash- 
ington from his home in Phila- 
delphia, and offered his services 
to the President as a mediator 
between the General Govern- 
ment and the people of this 
troubled Territory. Governor Young had previously com- 
municated with Colonel Kane, explaining his motive in declar- 
ing martial law and opposing the advance of the Federal 




COLONEL KAXE. 



152 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

troops. It had been done, he said, to bring about an investi- 
gation, and the Colonel was requested to convey this informa- 
tion to the President. Samuel W. Richards was Governor 
Young's messenger to Colonel Kane. The latter's offer of 
mediation was accepted by the head of the Nation.* 

Colonel Kane was in delicate health, and his diplomatic 
mission was one of exceeding difficulty. Few men at that time 
could have undertaken such an errand with any prospect of 
success. Traveling incognito and sailing from New York early 
in January 1858, he crossed the Isthmus, landed on the Cali- 
fornia coast, and proceeded by the southern route to Utah, ar- 
riving at Salt Lake City on the 25th of February. From San 
Bernardino he had as a traveling companion Joseph S. Tanner, 
a prominent citizen of Payson. 

At Salt Lake City. — Though introduced to the "Mormon" 
leaders as "Doctor Osborne" — that being the name he had as- 
sumed — Colonel Kane was immediately recognized and gladly 
welcomed by the men who had known him in earlier years. A 
private interview followed between him and President Young. 
At its conclusion the two returned into the presence of "The 
Council," whose members were informed by Colonel Kane that 
Utah had a good friend in Captain Van Vliet who, leaving Salt 
Lake City in company with Delegate Bernhisel, had visited 
Washington and used his influence in favor of the Territory 
and its people. The Delegate had met with a slight show of 
opposition, but had been permitted to take his seat, notwith- 
standing the strained relations between Utah and the General 
Government. 

At Camp Scott. — After resting a few days at the capital, 
Colonel Kane set out for Black's Fork, to confer with Governor 
Gumming upon a subject previously discussed with the leading 
men at Salt Lake City. They were willing to receive the new 
civic officers and give them a hearty welcome, if they would 
come in without the army. Colonel Kane bore this message 
to Camp Scott, distant one hundred and thirteen miles, with 
deep snow all the way. He arrived there on the 12th of 
March. Dismissing his escort outside the Federal lines, he 
was about to enter them, when he was challenged and fired 
upon by an over-zealous sentry, who received in return a blow 
on the head from the Colonel's gun stock. Surrounded in a 



*President Buchanan in his next message to Congress said: "I 
cannot refrain from mentioning the valuable services of Colonel 
Thomas L. Kane, who, from fnotives of pure benevolence, and without 
any official character or pecuniary compensation, visited Utah during 
the last inclement winter for the purpose of contributing to the pacifi- 
cation of the Territory." 



MEDIATION, PEACE AND PARDON. 153 

moment by soldiers, all greatly excited, he coolly requested to 
be conducted to the presence of Governor Gumming. 

The Governor greeted him cordially, and was soon con- 
vinced of the wisdom and propriety of the course that he ad- 
vised. He agreed to place himself under the guidance of Col- 
onel Kane and go with him, unaccompanied by troops, to the 
Utah capital. General Johnston strongly opposed this step 
and endeavored to dissuade the Governor from his purpose, 
but the latter remained firm. His attitude at that time was the 
beginning of a breach between him and the military com- 
mander. The other civic officers decided to remain at Camp 
Scott. 

Almost a Duel. — As for Colonel Kane, a duel between him 
and General Johnston was barely averted. The General, affect- 
ing to regard the Colonel as a spy, sent an orderly to arrest 
him, whereupon Governor Gumming, insulted at the indignity 
offered his guest, demanded an explanation. Johnston de- 
clared that a mistake had been made by his messenger, the sup- 
posed order of arrest being in reality an invitation to dinner. 
Colonel Kane, unconvinced, sent a challenge, which the com- 
mander would have accepted, it is said, had he not feared dis- 
missal from the service. Through the influence of Chief Jus- 
tice Eckels, the "affair of honor" terminated without a meet- 
ing.* 

Governor Gumming to the Gapital. — On the fifth of April, 
Governor Gumming, with Colonel Kane and two servants, set 
out for Salt Lake City. They were met on the way by General 
William H. Kimball, at the head of a company of cavalry, and 
escorted through Echo and Weber canyons. Part of the jour- 
ney was in the night time, and the hills on either side were 
l)right with bonfires, kindled by the handful of guards patrol- 
ing the passes. They were instructed to have some of their 
number march round and round the fires, with a view to creat- 
ing the impression that the canyon was alive with armed men. 
Every few rods the Governor's carriage was stopped by a de- 
mand for the countersign. This being given, apparently to 
some sentry by the wayside, but in reality to one from another 
of the Governor's escort, the vehicle was allowed to proceed. 
This ruse was expected to convince his Excellency, who would 
of course inform General Johnston, that the little force at Camp 
Scott was altogether unequal to the mighty host confronting 
him, and that he had done a wise thing in not attempting to 
force a passage through tlie mountains. At Ogden, for a 

*The duel incident, and that of the over-zealous sentrj-, ;i,re related 
bv Edward W. Tullidge in his Life of Brigham Young (p. 292) and in 
his History of Salt Lake City (p. 205V 



154 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



similar reason, the Governor was treated to a display of expert 
horsemanship by George Bartholomew, a circus rider, who, 
with a trick pony, went through some wonderful perform- 
ances, which were palmed oft" upon his Excellency as a sample 
of the ordinary evolutions of the militia cavalry. 

A Cordial Reception. — Near the Warm Springs, Mayor 
Smoot and other municipal officers received Governor Gum- 
ming and conducted him to lodgings previously prepared for 
his accommodation. He was received into the hospitable 
home of William C. Staines, the Territorial Librarian. Presi- 
dent Brigham Young called upon him, and during repeated 
interviews oft'ered him "every facility that he might require 

for the efficient performance of 
his administrative duties." Gov- 
ernor Gumming so stated in a 
letter to General Johnston, 
written ten days after leaving 
Camp Scott. In the same letter 
its writer said: "1 have been 
everywhere recognized as Gov- 
ernor of Utah ; and so far from 
having encountered insults or 
indignities, I am gratified in be- 
ing able to state to you, that in 
passing through the settle- 
ments I have been universally 
greeted with such respectful at- 
tentions as are due to the rep- 
resentative authority of the 
LTnited States in the Territory." 
Records Found Intact. — 
(idvernt^r CunimiuL;, on the 
second day of May. sent a re- 
port to the Secretary of State, 
Lewis M. Cass, informing him 
that he had examined the records of the Supreme Court and 
of the District Courts in Utah, and had found them "perfect 
and unimpaired." Lie also reported that the Legislative 
records and other books belonging to the Secretary of State 
were in perfect preservation, and that the Territorial Library 
had been kept by Mr. Staines in excellent condition. 

And here the bubble burst! The "Gentile" Governor of 
Utah, in thus reporting the facts, gave a complete refutation 
of the flagrant falsehood invented by Judge Drummond and 
sworn to 1)y Judge Stiles, charging that those records had been 
destroyed. 

At the Tabernacle. — The same report described a Sabbath 




GOVERNOR GUMMING. 



MEDIATION, PEACE AND PARDON. 155 

meeting at the Old Tabernacle, where Governor Cumniing was 
introduced by President Young and invited to address the con- 
gregation. What follows within quotation marks is the Gov- 
ernor's own language : 

"They listened respectfully to all 1 had to say — approvingly even, I 
fancied — when I explained to them what I intended should be the char- 
acter of my administration." Afterwards, "several powerful speakers" 
followed in succession, referring among other things to the military 
posse and its purposes. "At the bare mention of the troops a scene 
of wild uproar ensued, the congregation joining with the speakers in 
a thundrous protest against the coming of the army; more frenzy than 
I had expected to witness among a people who habitually exercise 
great self-control." "I informed them that they were entitled to a 
trial by their peers; that I had no intention of stationing the army 
in immediate contact with their settlements, and that the military 
posse would not be resorted to until other means of arrest had been 
tried and failed. I found the greatest difficulty in explaining these 
points, so great was the excitement. Eventually, however, the efforts 
of Brigham Young were successful in calming the tumult." "More 
than one speaker has since expressed his regret at having been betrayed 
into intemperance of language in my presence." — "The President and 
the American people will learn with gratification the auspicious issue 
of our difficulties here." 

Another "Mormon" Exodus. — The trouble, however, was 
not yet over, as the Governor's report went on to show. 
Said he : 

"I regret the necessity which compels me to mingle with my con- 
gratulations the announcement of a fact that will occasion great con- 
cern. The people, including the inhabitants of Salt Lake City, are 
moving from every settlement in the northern part of the Territory. 
The roads are everywhere filled with wagons loaded with provisions 
and household furniture, the women and children often without shoes 
or hats, driving their flocks they know not where. They seem not only 
resigned but cheerful. 'It is the will of the Lord,' and they rejoice to 
exchange the comforts of home for the trials of the wilderness. Their 
ultimate destination is not, I presume, definitely fixed upon. 'Going 
south.' seems sufficiently definite for the most of them, but many be 
licve that their ultimate destination is Sonora.* 

"Young, Kimball, and most of the influential men have left their 
commodious mansions, without apparent regret, to lengthen the long 
train of wanderers. The masses everywhere announce to me that the 
torch will be applied to every house indiscriminately throughout the 
country, so soon as the troops attempt to cross the mountains. I 
shall follow these people and try to rally them. 

"Our military force could overwhelm most of these poor people, 
involving men, women, and children in a common fate; but there are 
among the 'Mormons' manj'- brave men, accustomed to arms and 
horses; men who could fight desperately as guerillas; and who, if the 
settlements are destroyed, will subject the country to an expensive 
and protracted war, without any compensating results. They will, T 



*Sonora at that time was Northern Mexico, including Arizona, as 
far northward as the present city of Tucson. 



156 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

am sure, submit to 'trial by their peers,' but they will not brook the 
idea of trials by 'juries' composed of 'teamsters and followers of the 
camp,' nor of an army encamped in their cities or dense settlements. 
I have adopted means to recall the few 'Mormons' remaining in arms, 
who have not yet, it is said, complied with my request to withdraw 
from the canyons and eastern frontiers. I have also taken measures 
to protect the buildings which have been vacated in the northern 
settlements. I am sanguine that I will save a great part of the valuable 
improvements there. 

"I shall leave this city for the south tomorrow. After I have 
finished my business there, I shall return as soon as possible to the 
army, to complete the arrangements which will enable me before long, 
I trust, to announce that the road between California and Missouri 
may be traveled with perfect security by trains and emigrants of every 
description. I shall restrain all operations of the military for the 
present, which will probably enable me to receive from the President 
additional instructions, if he deems it necessary to give them." 

It was even as Governor Gumming- reported. Finding 
that the Federal Government was determined to quarter its 
troops within the Territory, and having no faith in the assur- 
ance that their rig-hts would be respected by the military, the 
people of Utah had resolved upon another exodus. Men, 
women, and children had abandoned their homes and were 
moving- southward, leaving behind them only a sufificient num- 
ber of guards to set fire to houses, orchards and farms, if a door 
latch should be lifted or a gate swung open by hostile hand. 

Brigham Young had said to Captain Van Vliet, when the 
latter declared that the Government would send enough troops 
to overcome all opposition, "We are aware that such will be 
the case, but when those troops arrive they will find Utah a 
desert." He was now preparing to make good his word. The 
army might force its way through the mountains, but when it 
reached "Zion," it would find "a desolation," "a city not in- 
habited." The "fruitful field" would be turned into a "desert," 
the land of smiling orchards into a burnt and blackened waste. 

Meaning of "The Move." — Possibly the "Mormon" leader 
had another purpose in view. While sternly resolved, if 
pushed to extremes, to "utterly lay waste the land," he may 
have had in mind the trial of a great moral experiment. A 
consummate strategist, he knew that the movement then in 
progress was the best possible method of attracting toward 
Utah the gaze of the civilized world, and of turning the fickle 
tide of public opinion in favor of the fugitive people. The 
burning of the supply trains had brought Colonel Kane, who 
was now on his way back to Washington to report the suc- 
cess of his mediating mission. "The Move," as the new ex- 
odus was called, might be depended upon to induce the Gov- 
ernment to fully investigate the Utah situation. If this hope 
failed, the worst was foreseen and provided against. 



Mi'.DiA IK )N, im<:ac;i<: and J'ARuon. 157 

Press Comments. — The New York Times expressed itself 
upon the subject thus: 

"Whatever our opinions may be of Mormon morals or Mormon 
manners, there can be no question that this vohuitary abandonment by 
forty thousand people, of homes created by wonderful industry in the 
niidst of trackless wastes, after years of hardships and persecution, is 
something from which no one who has a particle of sympathy with 
pluck, fortitude, and constancy can withhold his admiration. Right or 
wrong, sincerity thus attested is not a thing to be sneered at. True 
or false, a faith to which so many men and women prove their loyalty 
by such sacrifices, is a force in the world. After this last demonstra- 
tion of what fanaticism can do, we think it would be unwise to treat 
Mormonism as a nuisance to be abated by a posse comitatus. It is no 
longer a social excrescence to be cut oft" by the sword; it is a power to 
be combatted only by the most skillful, political and moral treatment. 
When people abandon their homes to plunge with women and children 
into the wilderness, to seek new settlements, they know not where, 
they give a higher proof of courage than if they fought for them. 
When the Dutch submerged Holland to save it from invaders, they 
had heartier plaudits showered upon them than if they had fertilized 
its soil with their blood. We have certainly the satisfaction of know- 
ing that we have to deal with foemen worthy of our steel. 

"Were we not guilty of culpable oversight in confounding their 
persistent devotion with the insubordination of ribald license, and 
applying to the one the same harsh treatment which the law intends 
fcr the latter alone? Was it right to send troops composed of the 
wildest and most rebellious men of the community, commanded by 
men like Harney and Johnston, to deal out fire and sword upon a 
people, whose faults even were the result of honest religious convic- 
tions? Was it right to allow Johnston to address letters to Brigham 
Young, and through him to his people, couched in the tone of an 
implacable conqueror toward ruthless savages? * * * ^^e stand 
on the vantage ground of higher knowledge, purer faith, and acknowl- 
edged strength. We can afiford to be merciful. At all events the 
world looks to us for an example of political wisdom such as few 
people, nowadays, are called on to display.'"* 

The Stephen A. Douglas Speech. — The New York paper's 
editorial utterances were a reminder of. perhaps a reply to, 
Senator Stephen A. Douglas who, at Springfield, Illinois, June 
12, 1857, had delivered a political speech wherein he referred to 
rumors then afloat that the "Mormons." "bound by horrible 
oaths and terrible penalties to recognize and maintain the au- 
thority of Brigham A^oung and the Government of which he 
is head as paramount to that of the United States in civil as 

*The London Times used this language in commenting upon the 
fugitive "Mormons:" "There is much that is noble in their devotion 
to their delusions. They step into the waves of the Great Basin with 
as much reliance on their leader as the descendants of Jacob felt when 
they stepped between the walls of water in the Red Sea. The ancient 
world had individual Curiatii, Horatii, and other examples of heroism 
and devotion; but these western peasants seem to be a nation of heroes, 
ready to sacrifice everything rather than surrender one of their wives, 
or n letter from Joe Smith's golden plates." 



158 VVlllTNKV'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

well as in relig^ious affairs," would in due time, under the direc- 
tion of their leaders, use all the means in their power to sub- 
vert the Federal Government. The "Mormons," he said, were 
reported to be forming alliances with Indian tribes, and organ- 
izing bands of "Danites" or "Destroying Angels," to prosecute 
a system of robbery and murder upon American citizens who 
supported the authority of the United States and denounced 
"the infamous and disgusting practices and institutions of the 
Mormon government." Basing his remarks upon these 
rumors, Douglas said: "Should such a state of things actually 
exist as we are led to infer from the reports, and such informa- 
tion come in official shape, the knife must be applied to this 
pestiferous and disgusting cancer, which is gnawing into the 
very vitals of the body politic. It must be cut out by the 
roots, and seared over with the red hot iron of stern and un- 
flinching law."* 

Mrs. Gumming Pleads for the People. — Governor Gum- 
ming did not succeed in persuading the "Mormon" people to 
remain in their homes. Returning from Camp Scott, whither 
he had gone about the middle of May to bring his wife to Salt 
Lake City, he found the place almost deserted. In the gardens 
were heaped bundles of straw and other combustibles ; every 
preparation having been made for the burning. Mrs. Gum- 
ming was so aft'ected by the sight that she burst into tears, 
expressing deep sympathy for the homeless wanderers. She 
entreated her husband not to allow the army to remain in the 
city, and begged him to do something to bring the people back. 
"Rest assured, madam," said the kind-hearted old Governor, 
"I shall do all I can. I only wish I could be in Washington 
for two hours; I am sure I could convince the Government 
that we have no need for troops." 

*Judge Douglas, in Illinois, had been on very friendly terms with 
the "Mormon" people, and it was partly through their political influ- 
ence that he became a United States Senator. In conversation with 
Joseph Smith, between whom and "The Little Giant" there existed the 
most cordial relations, the latter was told that he would yet aspire to 
he President of the United States, but that if he ever used his influence 
to injure the Latter-day Saints, the hand of God would be against him. 
After the Springfield speech this prophecy was published in the Deseret 
News, and its fulfillment was confidently looked for in Utah. In 1860 
Stephen A. Douglas became the Democratic candidate for President, 
and was overwhelmingly defeated by Abraham Lincoln, the standard- 
bearer of the Republicans. 

The Douglas speech was regarded as a Democratic attempt to 
rival the bid for popularity made by the Republican party, which, at 
its inception in 1856, had pledged itself to the extirpation of "slavery 
and polygamy," as "twin relics of barbarism." John C. Fremont, a 
pronounced Anti-Mormon, was then the Republican candidate for 
President. 



MEDIATION, PEACE AND PARDON. 159 

The President Congratulates Congress. — President Bu- 
chanan, on receiving from Secretary Cass the report of Gov- 
ernor Gumming-, addressed a communication to Congress, con- 
gratulating the Senators and Representatives upon the pros- 
pective termination of the Utah troubles. He expressed the 
opinion that there would be no occasion to make any further 
appropriations for the purpose of quelling disturbances in this 
Territory. 

The Peace Commission. — Peace Commissioners were sent 
by the President tu confer with the "Mormon" leaders and 
offer a free pardon to all persons who would manifest their 
loyalty to the Government. The Commissioners were Gov- 
ernor L. W. Powell of Kentucky and Major Ben McCulloch 
of Texas. Leaving Fort Leavenworth late in April, 1858, they 
made their way to Camp Scott, and early in June arrived at 
Salt Lake City. Jacob Forney, Indian Superintendent for 
Utah, came with them. These officials and Governor Gum- 
ming, met with Brigham Young and other prominent men, 
who had returned from the south for that purpose. At the 
meetings, which were held in the Council House, June 11th 
and 12th, the existing troubles, with the proposed pardon, were 
plainly and thoroughly discussed. The Commissioners were 
urged by the "Mormon" leaders to investigate the charges 
which had formed the ostensible basis for the Government's 
military expedition, but they declined to do so, holding that 
they were not there to inc^uire into and adjudicate past issues, 
but to deal with present conditions and present the conditional 
offer of amnesty. President Young and his associates denied 
that they had ever been disloyal, and disputed the truth of the 
accusation that they had driven away Federal officers or pre- 
vented any civic officer from entering the Territory. They 
accepted, however, for themselves and for their people, the 
proffered pardon for such overt acts as the burning of the 
supply trains and the running off of the army cattle. More- 
over, they agreed not to oppose Johnston's march through 
Salt Lake Cit}-, pr(i\i(led he would not quarter his troops 
within forty miles of the town. The date of President Bu- 
chanan's pardon was April 6, 1858. 

General Johnston's Proclamation. — At the close of the 
conference the Commissioners addressed an epistle to General 
Johnston, informing him of what had been said and done, and 
advising him to publicly proclaim that the ""army would not 
trespass upc^n the rights or property of peaceable citizens. 
Johnston, who was then advancing, replied from his camp on 
Bear River, expressing surprise at the uneasiness felt, and 
adding that if no obstructions were presented to the discharge 



loO VViiiTNEV'S roI'LILyVRiJlSrORYOF UTAH. 

of his duties in execution of orders from the War Department, 
there need be no apprehension that any person would have 
cause for complaint. He issued the desired proclamation, 
however, giving assurance that no one would be molested in 
person, in rights, or in the peaceful pursuit of his avocations. 
The People Hesitate. — Most of the people who had gone 
south were at Provo or in other parts of Utah County. Some 
had reached Fillmore and points beyond.* Governor Gum- 
ming and the Peace Commissioners followed the fugitives as 
far as Provo, entreating them to return and pledging them 
complete protection. Still the people hesitated. They were 
waiting to see how the troops would conduct themselves. 

Federal Troops Pass Through Salt Lake City. — On the 

26th of June, General Johnston at the head of his little army 
descended Emigration Ganyon and entered Salt Lake Valley. 
Passing through the all but deserted city, he crossed the Jordan 
River and encamped about two miles from the center of the 
town. Some of his officers and men were profoundly moved by 
what they beheld as they rode through the silent streets. 
Golonel Gooke, it is said, bared his head in honor of the brave 
men whom he had formerly led in their country's cause against 
Mexico. The troops preserved excellent order, and true to the 
pledge given by their commander, molested neither person nor 
property. They remained upon the Jordan three days, and 
then marched to Gedar Valley, thirty-six miles southward, 
where thev founded Gamp Floyd, so named after the Secretary 
of War. 

End of the Episode. — About the last of June the people 
who had left their homes began to return to them, and the de- 
serted towns and villages were again inhabited. Governor 
Gumming proclaimed peace, based upon the acceptance of the 
President's pardon, and so ended the Echo Ganyon War. 

*The press of the Deseret News was taken to Fillmore, and sev- 
eral numbers of the paper were issued there; Albert Carrington being 
editor. Willard Richards, the first editor of the News, had died March 
11, 1854. 



XVI. 

CAMP FLOYD TIMES. 

1858-1861 

How Johnston's Army Affected Utah. — Johnston's army 
proved both a benefit and a detriment to Utah. The founding 
of Camp Floyd furnished employment to masons, carper- 
ters, and other workmen, who built the Government barracks 
in Cedar Valley ; and it also provided a near and ready mar- 
ket for the products of farm, ranch and dairy. Opportunities 
to profit by the presence of the troops were not lost sight of 
by enterprising settlers ; contractors and merchants especially 
taking advantage of the commercial chance afforded. Sus- 
pension of travel over the plains, with the consequent break- 
ing up of local business houses, had deprived the people of 
many comforts, which were now obtainable. In exchange for 
flour, grain, beef, butter, eggs, poultry, and dried fruits, they 
received cash, groceries, clothing, and other necessaries. In 
a material way the community was greatly benefited. 

On the other hand various evils were introduced, trace- 
able mainly to the camp followers who came with the troops. 
General Johnston's strict discipline could not always hold in 
check the unruly spirits included in or connected with his 
command. Discharged teamsters and other ex-employes from 
the military post were a source of much trouble to the coiiv 
munity. Rough characters flocked in from East and West, 
and vices hitherto unfamiliar in Utah began to flourish, in 
spite of law, public sentiment, and a continually augmenting 
police force. Now and then a reputable citizen would fall be- 
neath the knife or bullet of a drink-crazed desperado, but more 
frequently the ruffians slew each other, in which event the 
mourning was not widespread. Some of the evil was directly 
chargeable to officers and soldiers at Camp Floyd. More than 
one unfortunate woman dated her ruin from the hour she 
formed acquaintance with such characters. The Indians in 
that vicinity became woefully corrupt as a result of their 
proximity to the garrison.* 

*Governor Cumming, in a report to the Secretary of State, drew 
the following character portrait of the people of Utah at that time: 

"Persons unbiased by prejudice who have visited this Territory 
will, I think, agree in the opinion that a community is seldom seen 
more marked by quiet and peaceable diligence than that of the Mor- 
mons. 

"After the passage of the army, hundreds of adventurers were 
attracted to these valleys, and met here some congenial spirits. 

lO 



162 vvHrrNi<:v's pui'Ui.ar history of utah. 

The Spencer-Pike Homicide. — There was some friction 
between civilians and soldiers. One of the tragic events of the 
time was the killing of Sergeant Ralph Pike by Howard 
Spencer, in retaliation for an assault committed by the former 
upon the latter. Pike was a young man, Spencer little more 
than a boy, and Rush Valley, west of Camp Floyd, the scene 
of the provocation. In the northern part of that valley, near 
the line of the Government reserve taken possession of by 
General Johnston, the Spencer-Little Ranch was located. To 
that place the Sergeant, with a squad of soldiers, came one 
evening (March 22, 1859) and ordered Spencer to move his 
cattle ofif some land where the men from camp purposed mow- 
ing hay. Receiving the reply that it was too dark to collect 
the cattle, and that they would not be moved till morning. 
Pike, with his gun barrel, struck Spencer a fearful blow on 
the head, inflicting an almost fatal wound. Recovering after 
many weeks, but never entirely regaining himself physically' 
or mentally, the victim of the assault met and shot his assail- 
ant, who had come from Camp Floyd to Salt Lake City to 
answer for his ofTense in the District Court. The shooting 
took place on Main Street, August 11th, in the presence of 
a military guard, with officers, from the post. Spencer suc- 
ceeded in escaping. Pike was carried into the Salt Lake 
House, where a few days later he died.* 

The Cedar Fort Raid. — Spencer being a "Mormon," some 
of the Camp Floyd soldiers, in revenge for the loss of their 
comrade, made a raid, the night after Pike's death, upon Cedar 
Fort, a little settlement six miles north of the post. They set 
fire to haystacks and sheds, and shot at those who tried to 
extinguish the flames. Fortunately nobody was hurt, though 
the whole village was terrorized. A committee of citizens r-^ 
ported the affair to General Johnston, who offered to send a 
guard to protect the settlement. He declared, however, that 

Banded together for rapine and acts of violence, they have stolen large 
herds of horses and mules. Many of these men, maddened by intem- 
perance, or rendered desperate by losses at the gaming table, or by 
various other causes, have shed each other's blood in frequent con- 
flicts, and secret assassinations. These lawless and bloody deeds are 
committed by them almost daily with impunity, and when their atro- 
city and frequency shock the public mind, it has become the custom 
with a certain set of people to exclaim against the people of Utah; but 
it is an injust'ce to impute "the acts of these desperadoes to the com- 
numity in general. With an equal show of justice might they be at- 
tributed to the inhabitants of the St?.tcs and Territories whence these 
men have so recently emigrated." , 

*The Salt Lake House, Utah's i)rincipal hotel at that time, stood 
on the east side of Main Street, al^out midway between First and 
Second South streets. 



Cy\ML' KJ.oVl) TIMES. 163 

he could not control the soldiers while Spencer was at ]ar_q-e.* 
New Federal Officers.— Soon after Governor Cuniming 
was installed, the h'ederal Judges who had come with, or im- 
mediately followed, the troops, were assigned to their respec- 
tive districts, and the machinery of the courts was set in mo- 
tion. Chief Justice D. R. Eckels, having qualified by taking 
the oath of ofifice before Probate Judge Elias Smith, July 19, 
1858, took up his residence at Camp Floyd. In the autumn of 
that year Associate Justice Charles E. Sinclair opened court 
at Salt Lake City. The other Judge, John Cradlebaugh, had 
not then arrived. The remaining Federal officers were John 
Hartnett, Secretary; Alexander Wilson, United States Attor- 
ney; Peter K. Dotson, United States Marshal; and Jacob 
Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The last-named 
office had been separated from that of Governor. All the new 
appointees were "Gentiles," and, with the single exception of 
Marshal Dotson, non-residents of Utah. 

Judge Sinclair and Attorney Wilson. — The first move on 
the judicial chessboard was not reassuring to the people who 
had abandoned their exodus and returned to their homes, 
relying upon the promises made to them that the amnesty 
extended by President Buchanan would be held sacred. In 
charging the Grand Jury of his court, Judge Sinclair urged 
them to indict Ex-Governor Young, General Wells, and other 
leading citizens for treason. He held that the I'resident's par- 
don, while "a public act in the history of the country," "ought 
to be brought judicially by plea, motion, or otherwise."! 

The United States Attorney, Mr. Wilson, refused to re- 
open the wound that was then healing. He would not pre- 
sent bills for indictments for treason, taking the ground that 
the Echo Canyon incident was closed; the President's pardon 
having been presented by the Commissioners, and accepted by 
the people, whereupon Governor Gumming had proclaimed 
peace. Mr. Wilson was commended by the Authorities at 
Washington for his stand upon this question. 

*rike had reported that Spencer assaulted him with a pitcli- 
fcirk, whereupon he "broke his head in self-defense." Spencer's friends 
denied tlie truth of tliis statement, affirming that the pitchfork, wliicli 
was in Spencer's hands when Pike struck him, was interposed in an 
attempt to break the force of the blow from the Sergeant's gun 
barrel. 

Many years later, Howard Spencer surrendered to the law, and 
was tried for murder in the District Court at Salt Lake City. A 
mixed jury of "Mormons" and "Gentiles" pronounced him not guilty. 

tSays Mr. Stenhouse, whom I also quote above: "He [Sinclair] 
wanted to bring before his court Brigham Young and the leading 
Mormons, to make them admit tliat they had been guilty of treason 
and Inmibly accept from him the President's clemency." (Rocky 
Monnlain Saints, page 402.) 



164 VVHiTNEV'S I'UPULAR HISTORY OF UlAH. 

Judge Eckels, while at Camp Scott, had called the atten- 
tion of his Grand Jury to the existence of polygamy in Utah, 
and had expressed the belief that legal indictments might be 
found upon that score. Polygamy, he said, was prohibited 
by the law of Mexico, and that law was not changed, so far as 
he could learn, by the cession of this region to the United 
States.* Moreover, he held that polygamy rnight be punished 
as adultery under the law of the Territory.! Judge Sinclair 
also mentioned the subject of polygamy to the Grand Jury of 
his court, but does not seem to have been as confident as the 
Chief Justice that it could be punished in the manner sug- 
gested. At all events he did not demand any polygamy in- 
dictments, nor were any returned by the Grand Jury. 

General Ferguson's Case. — General James Ferguson was 
indicted on a charge of intimidation, he being one of the attor- 
neys accused of threatening Judge Stiles in the District Court 
at Salt Lake City; an act cited to sustain the theory of an 
insurrection and justify the sending of troops to Utah. The 
other accused attorneys were Jesse C. Little and Hosea Stout. 
The charges against them were dismissed. General Ferguson 
was tried before a jury of "Mormons" and "Gentiles" and 
acquitted. An outgrowth of the same incident was an effort 
by D. H. Burr, a "Gentile" lawyer, to have General Ferguson 
disbarred ; but nothing came of it, the case being taken out of 
court by the prosecuting witness. 

Sentenced to Die on Sunday. — Judge Sinclair's course in 
Utah was unsatisfactory to all parties. According to Mr. 
Stenhouse, it was "only memorable for one thing — he sen- 
tenced the first white man that was ever hanged in Utah to be 
executed on a Sunday! Of course the day had to be changed." 
The man sentenced was Thomas H. Ferguson, who had shot 
and killed his employer, Alexander Carpenter. Both were 



*Says B. H. Roberts upon this point: "It is quite evident, how- 
ever, that neither the jurists nor the legislators of the United States 
regarded this reasoning as sound, * * * since befQre attempting 
any action against the plural marriage relations countenanced by the 
"Mormon" Church, they considered special enactments of Congress 
for the Territories necessary; and at no time invoked either the old 
Spanish law or the common law^ against this institution of marriage. 
Besides, had either the common or old Spanish law been invoked 
against the plural marriage features of the "Mormon" system, the 
question would still remain as to whether the 'bigamy' or 'polygamy' 
of those laws described the 'plural wife system'." (History of the 
Mormon Church, "Americana" for October, 1913, pp. 943-944. Note.) 

tAttempts were made in after years, and under the local laws, to 
punish polygamy or plural marriage as adultery; but those attempts 
were unsuccessful. 



CAMP FLOYD TIMES. 165 

non-"Mornions." The killing took place September 17, and 
the execution October 28, 1859.* 

Judge Cradlebaugh. — What threatened to be a serious 
clash between the civil and the military powers arrayed Gov- 
ernor Cummino:, with the citizens, on one hand, and the Fed- 
eral Judges, with General Johnston and the troops, on the 
other. It occurred in the spring of 1859. Judge Cradlebaugh 
had arrived in Utah during the previous November, but did 
not begin judicial proceedings until March. The seat of his 
district was Fillmore, but he opened court at Provo, and sum- 
moned to his assistance several companies of soldiers from 
Camp Floyd. 

Judge Cradlebaugh proposed to investigate the Mountain 
Meadows Massacre ; also what are known as "the Springville 
murders" — the killing, in March, 1857, of William R. Parrish, 
his son Beason, and G. G. Potter, by persons unknown. Ex- 
pecting opposition, the Judge deemed the presence of the 
troops necessary for his protection and that of jurors and 
witnesses. His evident purpose was to fasten guilty respon- 
sibility upon the "Mormon" Church. In charging the Grand 
Jury, he virtually accused the Church authorities of directing 
those crimes, and the Utah Legislature with having enacted 
laws to prevent the judiciary from bringing such offenders to 
justice.! 

Military Versus Civil Authority. — In response to the ju- 
dicial summons, which was promptly honored by the post com- 
mander, a company of infantry under Captain Heth sur- 
rounded and took possession of the Provo Seminary, in which 
building the court was held. Subsequently eight additional 
companies of infantry, one of artillery, and one of cav- 
alrv. under Major Paul, were stationed within sight of that 
building. Against this action. Mayor Bullock and the City 
Council, with other citizens, protested, but their protest was 
unheeded by Judge Cradlebaugh. They therefore appealed 
to Go\ernor Cumming. who requested General Johnston to 
withdraw the troops. The commander refused to comply with 
this request, and the Governor then issued a proclamation, 



*The condemned man, in his speech from the scaffold, declared 
that the Judge was drunk when he sentenced him to die on the Sab- 
bath day. This may or may not have been the case. It is a fact, 
however, that Judge Sinclair was notoriously intemperate, often under 
the influence of liquor even while on the bench. 

tSaid Judge Cradlebaugh: "They have provided the probate 
courts with criminal jurisdiction, and it would seem that the whole 
machinery was made so that they should be brought before that court 
and tried; and the fact that there is no additional legislation to pro- 
vide for bringing them before this court proves that it was done ti> 
prevent." 



166 WHITNEY'S I'OPULx\R HISTORY OF UTAH. 

setting forth the facts, and protesting against the military 
movement. It had been made, he said, without consultation 
with him, and was in opposition to the letter and spirit of his 
instructions from the Government. He stated that it had a 
tendency to terrify the inhabitants and disturb the peace of the 
Territory, also to subvert the ends of justice by intimidating 
witnesses and jurors.* 

Judge versus Grand Jury. — After a heated wrangle with 
the Grand Jury, which had failed to find the indictments that 
he most desired, Judge Cradlebaugh summarily dismissed 
that body and adjourned his court. He caused to be entered 
upon the docket these words: "The whole community pre- 
sents a united and organized opposition to the administration 
of justice.""!" 

The Grand Jury protested against its untimely and dis- 
honorable discharge. In their published protest the jurors 
stated that they were surrounded, during their deliberations, 
by a detachment of the army, and that army officers were 
quartered within hearing of the evidence of witnesses who 
were being examined in the jury room. They had, however, 
presented indictments for offenses against the laws of the 
United States, but these had been treated with contempt and 
the prisoners liberated without trial. Witnesses subpoenaed 
by the Grand Jury had been treacherously arrested, and the 

^Governor Cumming annexed to his proclamation the following 
extract from the instructions received by him for his guidance while 
Governor of Utah: "It is j^our duty to take care that the laws are 
faitlifully executed, and to maintain the peace and good order of the 
Territory, and also to support by your power and authority the civil 
officers in the performance of their duties. If these officers, when thus 
engaged, are forcibly opposed, or have just reason to expect opposi- 
tion, they have a right to call such portions of the posse comitatus to 
their aid as they may deem necessary. If circumstances should lead 
you to believe that the ordinary force at the disposal of such officers 
will be insufficient to overcome any resistance that may be reasonably 
anticipated, then you are authorized to call for such number of the 
troops as the occasion may require, who will act as a posse com- 
itatus, and while thus employed they will be under the direction of the 
proper civil officer, and act in conformity with the instructions you 
may give as the Chief Executive Magistrate of the Territory." 

tFollowing is a portion of Judge Cradlebaugh's address to the 
Grand Jury: "If it be expected that this court is to be used by the 
community as a means of protecting it against the peccadilloes of 
Gentiles and Indians, unless the communitv will punish its own mur- 
derers, such expectation will not be realized. When this people come 
to their reason, and manifest a disposition to punish their own high 
offenders, it will then be time to enforce the law also for their protec- 
tion. If this court cinnni l)ring you to a proper sense of your duty, it 
can at least turn the sri\ages in cusl(Kly loose uikmi you." Forthwith 
the prisoners were set free. Two of them were Indians, charged 
with an atrocious crime. 



CAM I' FTX)Vr) TIMES. 167 

jury deprived of their evidence. Yet notwithstanding: thev 
were thus trammeled by the court, they had honored their 
oath, and were endeavorino^ to faithfullv dischar,e:e their du- 
ties, when they "were dismissed bv his honor with a slander- 
ous and insultins: harane^ue." 

Attempt to Arrest President Young. — The next exciting 
incident was the attempted arrest of President Brigham 
Young, who had been accused of complicity in an act of coun- 
terfeiting. The real criminals were men from Camp Floyd, 
who had employed a young engraver at Salt Fake City to 
duplicate certain plates used by the post quartermaster for 
notes drawn upon the Assistant United States Treasurers in 
St. Louis and New York. The fraud being discovered, the 
principal offender, one Brewer, turned state's evidence, shift- 
ing the blame from his own shoulders to those of the en- 
graver, who was comparatively innocent. The militarv author- 
ities were confident that they also had a case against President 
Youne. and some of them were jubilant at the prospect. 

Governor Gumming Interposes. — The necessary writs 
having been issued, officers from Camp Floyd called upon 
Governor Cumming to solicit his co-operation. To the arrp';*^ 
of the maker of the plates the Governor offered no obiection 
— he even helned to procure it, and due punishment followed ■ 
but he refused to encourage or permit the arrest of President 
Young, the charge against him being absolutely groundless.* 

It was now rumored that General Johnston would send 
two regiments, with artillery, to enforce the writ of arrest 
against the "Mormon" leader. A breach was to be made in the 
stone wall surrounding his premises, and he would then be 
taken bv force and carried to Camp Floyd. Governor Cum- 
ming informed General Wells of this report, and directed him 
to hold the militia in readiness to repel any such assault. But 
the regiments did not come. 

Judge Gradlebaugh and Superintendent Forney. — Judge 
Cradlebaugh, after adjournino' court in the summarv manner 
described, visited Southern Utah, accompanied bv a United 
States deputv marshal and a detachment of Camo Flr»\(l 
troops under Captain Campbell. The}- collected all the infor- 



*It transpired tli;it someone in tlie President's Office liad fur- 
nislied tlie naper for the counterfeit notes, and the voung enqfraver. 
who was a "]\Tormon." had previously done work on the plates for tli(^ 
Deseret Currency. This was the extent of the so-called "comnlicitv." 
U. S. Marshal Dotson seized the Deseret Currency plates, mistaking 
them for counterfeitin.s: accessories. Discoverinsr liis error, lie re- 
turned the plates, tlinupli in a ruined condition, and subsequent Ies:al 
proceedings compelled him to pay damages in the sum of $2,600. The 
voung engraver, pardoned out of the Penitentiary, redeemed himself 
hy a career of strict probity. 



168 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

mation possible respecting the Mountain Meadows tragedy, 
which the Judge was still determined to place to the account 
of the leaders of the "Mormon" Church. His zeal in that di- 
rection, and that of the military authorities in the counterfeit- 
ing complicity case, caused Superintendent Forney to remark 
in a report to the United States Commissioner of Indian Af- 
fairs : *T fear, and I regret to say, that with certain parties 
here there is a greater anxiety to connect Brigham Young and 
other Church dignitaries with every criminal ofifense, than 
diligent endeavor to punish the actual perpetrators of crime." 
Mr. Forney had also been through' Southern Utah, and had 
gathered up the survivors of the Massacre — seventeen small 
children — that they might be returned to their friends in 
Arkansas. The report above cited was made in August, 1859.* 
Attorney-General Black to the Utah Judges. — Meanwhile 
an important message had arrived from Washington. It was 

*Many years later, when the War Department was being urged 
by Federal officers in Utah (Judge Hawley and Governor Woods) to 
establish a military post near Beaver, the seat of the Second District 
Court. President Young wrote to Secretary Belknap as follows: 

"In 1858, when Alfred Gumming was Governor of Utah Territory, 
1 pledged myself to lend him and the court every assistance in my 
power, in men and means, to thoroughly investigate the Mountain 
Meadows Massacre, and bring, if possible, the guilty parties to jus- 
tice. That offer I have made again and again, and although it has not 
yet been accepted I have neither doubt nor fear that the perpetrators 
of that tragedy will meet their just reward. But sending an armed 
force is not the means of furthering the ends of justice, although it 
may serve an excellent purpose in exciting popular clamor against the 
Mormons. 

"In 1859, Judge Cradlebaugh employed a military force to at- 
tempt the arrest of those alleged criminals. He engaged in all about 
four hundred men, some of whom were civilians, reputed gamblers, 
thieves, and other camp followers, who were doubtless intended for 
jurors (as his associate, Judge Eckels, had just done in another dis- 
trict); but these accomplished absolutely nothing further than plun-- 
dering hen roosts, and rendering themselves obnoxious to the citizens 
on their line of march. Had Judge Cradlebaugh, instead of peremp- 
torily dismissing his grand jury and calling for that military posse, 
allowed the investigation into the Mountain Meadows Massacre to pro- 
ceed, I have the authority of Mr. Wilson, U. S. Prosecuting Attorney, 
for saying the investigation was proceeding satisfactorily: and I firmly 
believe, if the county sheriffs, whose legal duty it was to make arrests. 
had been lawfully directed to serve the processes, that they would 
have performed their dutv and the accused would have been brought 
to trial. Instead of honoring the law. Judge Cradlebaugh took a 
course to screen offenders, who could easily hide from such a posse 
under the justification of avoiding a trial by court martial. 

"It is now fourteen years since the tragedy was enacted, and the 
courts have never tried to prosecute the accused; although some of 
the judges, like Judge Hawley, have used every opportunity to charge 
the crime on prominent men in Utah, and influence public opinion 
against oiu^ rommnnit\." 



CAMP FLOYD TIMES. 169 

from Honorable Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney-General of the 
United States, and was in reply to a letter from Judges Sin- 
clair and Cradlebaugh, who had laid before the Attorney- 
General the matters in controversy between them and Gover- 
nor Ciimming-. requesting^ instructions from the Department of 
Justice. Part of Judge" Black's epistle, dated May 17, 1859. 
ran as follows : 

"I'lic condition of things in Utah made it extremely desirable that 
{\\v Judges appointed for that Territory should confine themselves 
strictly within their own official sphere. The Government had a Dis- 
trict Attorney, who was charged with the duties of a nublic accuser, 
and a Marshal, who was responsible for the arrest and safe-keeping of 
criminals. For the Judges there was nothing left, except to hear pa- 
tiently tlie cases brought before them, and to determine thetii impar- 
tially, according to the evidence adduced on both sides. * * * * 

"The Governor is the Supreme Executive of the Territory. He 
is responsible for the public peace. From the general law of the land, 
the nature of his office, and the instructions he received from the State 
Department, it ought to have been understood that he alone had 
power to issue a requisition for the movement of troops from one part 
of the Territory to another, — that he alone could put the military 
forces of the Union and the people of the Territory into relations of 
general hostility with one another. The instructions given to the 
Commanding General by the War Department are to the same effect. 
■ "On the whole the President is very decidedly of opinion — ^(1) 
That the Governor of the Territorj^ alone has power to issue a requisi- 
tion upon the Commanding-general for the whole or part of the army; 
(2^ That there was no apparent occasion for the presence of troops 
at Provo: (3) That if a rescue of the prisoners in custody had been 
attempted, it was the duty of the Marshal, and not of the Judge, to 
summon the force which might be necessary to prevent it; (4) That 
the troops ought not to have been sent to Provo without the concur- 
rence of the Governor, nor kept there against his rernonstrance; (5) 
That the disregard of these principles and rules of action has been in 
many ways extremely unfortunate."* 

This put a stop to the judicial-military operations of the 
Federal Judges. Thenceforth they confined themeslves to 
their proper sphere, leaving the duties of Prosecuting Attor- 
ney and Marshal to be discharged by those functionaries, with- 
out magisterial interference. Judges Eckels and Sinclair, 



*Chief Justice Eckels and General Johnston had also sent com- 
munications to Washington, the former addressing the Secretary of 
State and the latter the head of the War Department, relative to 
affairs in Utah. Secretary Cass, after perusing the letter from Judge 
Eckels, wrote to Governor Gumming for a statement of facts, which 
was furnished. It did not altogether agree with the representations of 
the Chief Justice. Secretary Floyd's reply to General Johnston sup- 
ported the views of the Administration already expressed by. Judge 
Black. The latter, answering letters from U. S. Attorney Wilson, 
approved the course that he had taken and urged him not to allow 
the Judges to usurp his functions. "If they will insist upon doing the 
duties of Prosecuting Attorney and Marshal, as well as their own, 
everything will be thrown into confusion," remarked the Attorney 
General. 



170 WHITNEY'S POPUl.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

whose characters were nut such as to render consistent any 
suggestion they might make for the correction of "Mormon" 
morals, soon dropped out of sight. Judge Cradlebaugh was 
next heard of in Carson Valley, having been appointed to the 
judicial district comprising that section, which, a few years 
later, was cut ofif from Utah and converted into the Territory 
of Nevada, with Cradlebaugh as its first Delegate in Congress. 
Camp Floyd Indignant. — Camp Floyd seethed with indig- 
nation over the turn affairs had taken. At a mass meeting 
held there in July, 1859, an address was issued embodying a 
declaration that the "Mormons" were still disloyal, and that 
President Bvichanan had done a great wrong in withdrawing 




THE OVERLAND STAGE COACH. 



from the courts the protecting power of the military. The agi- 
tation developed into a movement to have Governor Cumming 
put out of office ; and the movement might have succeeded, 
through General Johnston's influence at Washington, but for 
a counter influence exerted by Colonel Thomas L. Kane.* 

Horace Greeley in Utah. — In the summer of 1859 Horace 



*About that time Colonel Kane delivered in the East a public 
addres.s upon Utah affairs, in the course of which he eulogized Gov- 
ernor Cumming as the man of all men for the position lie held. The 
address, widely published, made such an impression at Washington 
that the tide of sentiment was turned in favor of Utah's Executive. 



CAMP FLOYD TIMES. 



171 



Greeley, the founder and editor of the New York Tribune, ar- 
rived in the Territory. From the frontier the famous journal- 
ist had traveled westward by means of Ben Holladay's mail 
and passenger stage line, which was then running between 
St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, with Salt 
Lake City as a station on the route. The line had been estab- 
lished soon after the founding of Camp Flo)d.* Mr. Greeley 
reached the Utah capital on the evening of July 10th, and re- 
mained a week or more, studying local conditions. During his 
stay he had several extended interviews with President Brig- 
ham Young. The New York editor was introduced to the 
"Alornidn" leader by Delegate Bernhisel.t 

"Two Hours with Brigham Young," — In his book enti- 
tled "An Overland Journey from New York to San Fran- 
cisco" — a compilation of letters written by him to his paper— 





.^'^fc 



LION HOUSE. PRESIDENT'S OFEICE. BEE III\ E HOUSE. 

Mr. Greeley, under date of July 13. 1859, recounts his first in- 
terview with Brigham Young. Part of it follows : 

"We were very cordially welcomed at the door by the President, 
who led us into the second-story parlor of the largest of his houses 
(he has threeJ), where I was introduced to Heber C. Kimball, General 

*Later, another line of stage coaches ran from Salt Lake City 
through Fillmore. Parowan, and Cedar City, to San Diego. 

tboctor Bcrnhisel, then nearing the close of his second term m 
Congress, was about to bo succeeded by Captain William H. 
TToopcr, elected Delegate in August, 1859. Hooper, during the Kcho 
Cauvon War period, had acted as Secretary of Utah pro tiin. 

iThe Wiiite House, the Lion ILiusc. and the Loc-Hivc House, all 
thri'c still standing ("1916) on South Temple Street. 



172 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Wells, General Ferguson, Albert Carrington Elias Smith, and several 
other leading men in the_ Church, with two full-grown sons of the 
President. After some unimportant conversation on general topics, I 
stated that I had come in quest of fuller knowledge respecting the 
doctrines and polity of the Mormon Church, and would like to ask 
some questions bearing directly on these, if there were no objections. 
President Young avowing his willingness to respond to all pertinent 
inquiries, the conversation proceeded substantially as follows: 

"H.G. — Am I to regard Mormonism (so-called) as a new religion, 
or as simply a new development of Christianity? 

"B. Y. — We hold that there can be no true Christian church with- 
out a Priesthood directly commissioned by and in immediate commu- 
nication with the Son of God and Savior of mankind. Such a church 
is that of the Latter-day Saints, called by their enemies Mormons; we 
know no other that even pretends to have present and direct revela- 
tions of God's will. 

"H. G. — Am I to infer that Utah, if admitted as a member of the 
Federal Union, will be a slave State? 

"B. Y. — No; she will be a free State. Slavery here would prove 
useless and unpiofitable. I regard it generally as a curse to the mas- 
ters. I myself hire many laborers, and pay them fair wages; I 
could not afiford to own them. I can do better than subject myself to 
an obligation to feed and clothe their families, to provide and care for 
them in sickness and health. Utah is not adapted to slave labor.* 

"H. G. — Let me now be enlightened with regard more especially 
to your church polity. I understand that you require each member to 
pay over one-tenth of all he produces or earns to the Church. 

"B. Y. — That is a requirement of our faith. There is no compul- 
sion as to the payment. Each member acts in the premises according 
to his pleasure, under the dictates of his own conscience. 

"H. G. — What is done with the proceeds of this tithing? 

"B. Y. — Part of it is devoted to building temples and other places 
of worship; part to helping the poor and needy converts on their way 
to this country: and the largest portion to the support of the poor 
among the Saints. 

"H. G. — Is none of it paid to bishops and other dignitaries of the 
Church? 

"B. Y. — Not one penny. * * * 

"H. G. — How, then, do your ministers live? 

"B. Y. — By the labor of their own hands, like the first apostles. 
Every bishop, every elder, may be dailv seen at work in the field or 
the shop, like his neighbors. * * * Even our lawyers (pointing to 
General Ferguson and another present, who are the regular lawyers of 
the Church), are paid nothing for their services. * * * i am called 
rich, and consider myself worth two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars; but no dollar of it was ever paid me by the Church. 

***** 

"H. G. — What do you say of the so-called Danites, or Destroying 
Angels, belonging to your Church? 

"B. Y. — What do you say? I know of no such band, no such per- 
sons or organization. I hear of them only in the slanders of our 

enemies. 

***** 

"H. G. — How general is polygamy among you? 



*President Young acquiesced in the divine dispensation that made 
the children of Ham servants to the descendants of Shem and Japh- 
eth; but he believed that the curse prononnced upon Ham would yet 
he removed from his posterity. 



CAMP FLU VI) TIMES. 



173 



"B. Y. — I could iiol say. Some of those present (heads of the 
Church) have each but one wife; otiiers have more; each determines 
what is his individual duty.* 

Honored by the Press. — The distinguished visitor was the 
guest of honor at a reception and banquet given by the Deseret 
Typographical and Press Associ- 
ation. Utah had at that time 
two newspapers — "The Deseret 
News," representing the "Mor- 
mon" community, and "The Val- 
ley Tan," which voiced the views 
of the "Anti-Mormons." This 
paper was established in Novem- 
ber, 1858; its first editor being 
Kirk Anderson, and its principal 
owner. Secretary Hartnett. 
Though published in Salt Lake 
City, most of its circulation was 
at Camp Floyd, where the earli- 
est numbers had been issued. A 
third journal, "The Mountaineer," made its appearance a few 
weeks after Mr. Greeley's departure. Its editors and pro- 
prietors were James Ferguson, Seth M. Blair, and Hosea 
Stout. All three papers issued weekly. For the "News" 
and the "Mountaineer" the terms of subscription were six 
dollars a year; for the "Valley Tan," ten dollars. 




HORACE GREELEY 



*The chapter in which this dialogue occurs is entitled "Two 
Hours with Brigham Young." Says Mr. Greeley: 

"He [Youngl spoke readily, not always with grammatical ac- 
curacy, but with no appearance of hesitation or reserve, and with no 
apparent desire to conceal anything; nor did he repel any of my ques- 
tions as impertinent. He was very plainly dressed in thin summer 
clothing, and with no air of sanctimony or fanaticism. In appearance 
he is a portly, frank, good-natured, rather thick-set man of fifty-five, 
seeming to enjoy life, and to be in no particular hurry to get to 
heaven. His associates are olain men, evidently born and reared to a 
life of labor, and looking as little like crafty hyprocrites or swindlers 
as any body of men I ever met. The absence of cant or snuffle from 
their' manner was marked and general." In another chapter Greeley 
tells of "opportunities for studying the 'Mormons' in their social, or 
festive, and in their devotional assemblies," and goes on to say: "I 
had been told that the Mormons are remarkably ignorant, supersti- 
tious, and brutalized; but the aspect of these congregations did not 
sustain that assertion. Nor do I accept the current Gentile presump- 
tion, that the Mormons are an organized banditti — a horde of robbers 
and assassins." "I conclude that polygamy, as it was a graft on the 
original stock of Mormonism, will be outlived by the root — that there 
will be a new revelation, ere many years, whereby the Saints will be 
admonished to love and cherish the wives they already have, but not 
to marry any more beyond the natural assignment of one wife to each 
husband." 



174 WlilTNEV'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

By Way of Camp Floyd.— Greeley's further route west- 
ward was by way of Camp Floyd, which he describes as "on 
the west side of a dry valley, perhaps ten miles wide by thirty 
miles long, separated by high hills from Lake Utah, some 
fifteen to twenty miles distant on the northeast." The camp 
was "formed of low and neat adobe houses, generally small." 
.The lumber for roofs and finishings had been "supplied by 
Brigham Young and his son-in-law, from the only canyon 
opening into Salt Lake Valley which abounds in timber fit 
for sawing." The profit on the lumber was "probably over 
$50,000, the price being seventy dollars per thousand feet, 
delivered." The total cost of the military post to the Gov- 
ernment, was about $200,000.* 

The Pony Express. — The news service between the Mis- 
souri frontier and the Pacific Coast was greatly improved in 
the spring of 1860, by the establishment of the Pony Express. 
William H. Russell of St. Louis, and associates, originated 
this enterprise, the purpose of which was to supply to the 
Great West, as far as possible, the need of the electric tele- 
graph. The Pony Express was carried on by means of 
picked riders with relays of swift saddle horses, capable of 
making 250 miles in twenty-four hours. The ordinary mail 
coach could make but 100 or 125 miles in that time. This 

*Grecley's opinion of the policy that kept the Federal troops in 
Utah is thus set forth in the "Overland Journey": "Very general is 
the inquiry in the army, Why were we sent here? And why are we 
kept here?" "What purpose does it subserve, beyond enriching- con- 
tractors and Mormon magnates, at its own cost and that of the Fed- 
eral Treasury? Every article eaten, drank, worn, or in any manner 
bought by the soldiers, costs three to ten times its value in the States 
* * * I have not so bad an opinion of the Mormons as that enter- 
tained by the army. While I consider the Mormon religion, so-called, 
a delusion and a blight, I believe many of its devoted adherents, in- 
cluding most of those I have met, to be pure-minded, well-meaning- 
people; and I do not believe that Mormons generally delight in plun- 
der or murder. * * * -q^^^ j concur entirely in the conviction of 
the army, that there is no use in its retention here under existing 
orders and circumstances, and that three or four companies of dra- 
goons would answer every purpose of this large and costly concentra- 
tion of troops. The army would cost less alrnost anywhere else, and 
could not anywhere be less useful. A suspicion that it is kept here 
to answer pecuniary ends is wndely entertained. It is known that vast 
sums have been made out of its transportation by favored con- 
tractors." 

General Win field Scott seems to have been of the same opinion. 
In his Autobiography (p. 604) he claims to have opposed the sending 
of the army to Utah on "the general ground of inexpediency," and 
especially because it was too late, when it was concluded to send 
them, for the troops "to reach their destination in comfort or even in 
safety." Scott believed that the Utah Expedition was set on foot "to 
give occasion for large contracts and c.Kpenditures," to "open a wide 
field for fraud and peculation." 



CAM I' FLOVJJ IIMES. 175 

innovation brought the Utali cai)ital into a six-days commu- 
nication with the frontier, and within seven days of New York 
and Washington. The first pony rider from the West 
reached Salt Lake City on the 7th of April. The first from the 
East arrived two days later. Both expresses had started on 




THE PONY EXPRESS. 

the night of April 3rd, one from Sacramento and the other 
from St. Joseph.* 

Burton's "City of the Saints." — Late in the summer of 
that year came another notable visitor to receive and record 
impressiojis concerning the people of Utah and their institu- 
tions. It was Captain Richard F. Burton, a British army 
of^cer and world-wide traveler, whose book, "The City of 



*The Ponv Express carried dispatches and important letters, the 
rate for which was from one dollar to five dollars per half ounce. 
Written on the thinnest paper pFOcurable, the messages were stowed 
in saddle bags, or in pouches on the person of the rider. The relays 
were kept at the stations of the Overland Stage Line. A horseman 
coming in at full gallop would jump from his jaded steed, leave it in 
the care of grooms waiting to receive it, and, flinging himself across a 
fresh mount, be ofif again with almost the speed of the wind. No one 
ri'ler. of course, could make the through trip without sleep, and at cer- 
tain points fresh riders were supplied. Eighty riders and four hundred 
horses constituted the entire equipment; eight messengers being kept 
in the saddle. While the Pony Express did not originate in Utah, the 
Territory furnished a full share of the riders. To secure the full ad- 
vantages of the service, clubs were organized along the route — one at 
Salt Lake City, with Brigham Young as its president. Among the 
most noted of the express riders was Colonel William F. Cod}'— 
•'P.nffalo Bill." 



176 WHITNEY'S PUi'ULAR HISTORY Ui- UTAH. 

the Saints," published after his visit to the Territor\-, is one 
of the fairest productions of its kind that has appeared in 
print. Captain Burton arrived at Salt Lake City on the 24th 
of August, and remained in Utah one month, spending" part of 
the time at Camp Floyd. Like Editor Greeley, this noted 
traveler had crossed the Rocky Mountains for the purpose of 
visiting the Great Basin and the Pacific Coast.* 

Rumors of War. — News of a stirring nature soon came 
by the Pony Express. The air was filled with rumors of war. 
Events in the East had been hurrying to a crisis, and the 
great conflict that was destined to split the Nation asunder, 
was just about to begin. The immediate result to Utah was 
the withdrawal of the Federal troops from the Territory. 

Camp Floyd Abandoned. — As early as February, 1860, 
General Johnston had set out for Washington, going by way 
of Southern California and the Isthmus of Panama. Colonel 
Smith, and after him. Colonel Cooke, succeeded to the posi- 
tion of post commander. By Cooke's order, in February, 
1861, the name Camp Floyd was changed to Fort Critten- 
den ; Secretary Floyd having manifested by that time his 
strong anti-Union tendencies.! Many of the troops had al- 
ready been ordered to Oregon and New Mexico; in July the 
remainder took up their march for the East.^ 



*Burton divided the inhabitants of Great Salt Lake City into 
three classes— "Mormons," "Gentiles," and "Anti-Mormons," and at- 
tributed to them "three distinct opinions concerning, three several 
reasons for, and three diametrically different accounts of, everything 
that happens." 

tMany believed that Johnston's army would never have been sent 
to Utah, but for the plotting of Secessionist leaders at Washington. 
President Buchanan denied the right of a State to secede: but the 
Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, was a strong Secessionist and be- 
came a Confederate general. As a member of the President's Cabinet, 
he is said to have done all in his power to scatter the armed forces of 
the Union in order to facilitate the withdrawal of the Southern States 
and enable them to seize the Government arsenals and public military 
stores within their borders. (Blaine's "Twenty Years in Congress," 
Bancroft's "History of Utah," p. 504; "Library of Universal Knowl- 
edge," Vol. 6, p. 73.) 

tSome of these departing soldiers — these ordered to New Mexico 
— were guilty of a dastardly outrage. They went by way of Provo 
River, Echo Canyon, Fort Bridger and Fort Laramie, marching in 
two sub-columns under Colonel Morrison and Major Lynde; a large 
contingent of camp followers, including women and gamblers, going 
with them. On Yellow Creek, near the head of Echo Canyon, Wil- 
liam and James Hennifer having entered the camp, were set upon and 
shamefully treated. The former was stripped of his clothing and 
whipped and beaten nearly to death at the instance of Assistant Sur- 
geon Edward Covey and Lieutenant Ebenezer N. Gay. It was an act 
of revenge. Covey had been arrested at Salt Lake City in November. 
1858, for riot and assault, and Hennifer was one of the officers who 
had taken him into custody. 



CAM P FLOY 1 ) TIM RS. 177 

Before the post was abandoned, immense stores of pro- 
visions and army supplies were offered for sale by the mili- 
tary authorities, and disposed of at an enormous sacrifice. 
Goods worth four million dollars, were sold for one hundred 
thousand. Far-sighted buyers made their fortunes. Great 
quantities of arms and ammunition, which could not be trans- 
ported, were destroyed liy direction of the War Department. 

Farewell Courtesies. — General Johnston did not visit 
Salt Lake City after passing through with his army in the 
summer of 1858. Consequently he and Brigham Young never 
met. Colonel Cooke, Colonel Alexander, Captain Marcy, 
and Quartermaster Grossman accepted an invitation to call 
upon the Ex-Governor prior to their departure ; an invitation 
extended by Hiram B. Clawson, the President's son-in-law, 
and purchasing agent at the post. These officers pre- 
sented to the "Mormon" leader the flag-staff from which the 
Stars and Stripes had floated over Camp Floyd ; and for many 
years this interesting relic stood near the White House, on 
the hill east of the Eagle Gate, where it continued to hold 
aloft the National Banner."* 

Governor Cumming's Departure. — One departure during 
that period must ha\e caused general regret. It was 
that of Governor Gumming, whose brave and kindly nature, 
coupled with a straightforward, independent course, had won 
the confidence and lasting friendship of the people he had 
faithfully served. His term of office ended in July, 1861, but as 
early as the 17th of May he bade Utah farewell, leaving the 
Executive office in charge of Secretary Francis H. Wootten. 
The Governor's destination was his old home in Georgia. 



^General Johnston passed to a tragic ending. He had termed the 
people of Utah "rebels." Himself a "rebel" now, wearing the gray in- 
stead of the bine, commanding a Confederate in lieu of a Union army. 
he met Grant at Shiloh, April 6, 1862, and fell at the crisis of that ter- 
rible battle, which, but for his death, might have been won for the 
South. 



11 



XVII. 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 

1861-1865. 

Utah Cut Down. — Just before the beginning of the Civil 
War, Utah parted with that portion of her domain out of which 
Congress created the Territory of Nevada. It was March 2nd, 
1861, when President Buchanan affixed his signature to the Act 
organizing that Territory. Nevada's eastern limit, which be- 
came Utah's western boundary, was placed at the thirty-ninth 
meridian from Washington.* 




i;tah past and prkskxt 



During the same year the Territory of Colorado came into 
existence, Eastern Utah and parts of other Territories being 

*Westeni Utah, which became Nevada, had then been occupied 
for about ten years; Hampden S. Beatie building the first house at 
Genoa, while on his way to the California gold fields. He was fol- 
lowed by the Reese Brothers from Salt Lake City. Within a few years 
farmers, stock raisers, miners and merchants, from both East and 
West, began to settle along the Carson River. Early in the "fifties" 
it was proposed to annex that region to California, and later an effort 
was made to induce Congress to change the name Utah to Nevada, and 
remove the seat of government to Carson County. Before and after 
that time there were movements for the formation of a new Territory. 
The discovery of the great Comstock Mine, in June, 1859, largely in- 
creased the "Gentile" population, who objected to being "governed 
from Salt Lake City." In November, 1860, following the example of 
the founders of Deseret, they elected a Governor and Legislature and 
Iietitioncd Congress for a Territorial government. The prayer was 
.^nn 111 fd, .-iiid lli<- 'l\Trit'irv of \e\ada was the result. 



TIIR Cl\ II. WAR I'EklOJ). \?) 

taken lOr that purpose. Utah's easlern limit was then fixed 
at the thirty-second meridian.'^ 

Boundaries Redefined. — At the next session of the Legis- 
lature following;' the organization of Nevada, the boundaries of 
Utah were redefined. The cotmties then numbered eighteen, 
namely: Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, Tooele, Juab, San- 
pete, Millard, Iron, Beaver, Washington, Kane, Morgan, Hox 
Elder, Cache, Wasatch, Summit and Green River.f 

More Southern Colonization. — A visit by President Young 
and other leading men to the southern part of the Territory, in 
May and June, 186L resulted in a renewal of colonizing activ- 
ities in that region. During the latter part of the year several 
htindred families from Northern and Central Utah settled in 
Washington County. Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow had 
charge of the mission. The town of St. George, named after 
George A. Smith, was located at that time. 

Iron and Cotton, — Two important home industries were 
then struggling" for existence, namely, the manufacture of iron 
at Cedar City, and the raising of cotton on the Rio Virgen. 
Two hundred thousand dollars were expended in the produc- 
tion of iron, when it was found that the ore, though rich, W(Uild 
not flux, and the enterprise had to be abandoned. Cotton had 
been raised in Northern Utah as early as 1851, and four years 
later cotton seed from the Southern States was planted in the 
valley of the Santa Clara; the result being the first cotton 
fabric produced in the Territory. During 1858 Joseph Home, 
heading a colony from Salt Lake City, established a cotton 
farm on the Rio Virgen, and in 1862 cotton mills began to ap- 
pear at Parowan and other places. These industries received 
an impetus from the Civil War, the blockading of Southern 
ports by the Northern fleets having caused a scarcity of cot- 
ton fabric throughout the country. Part of the raw product 



*In 1862 another degree was given to Nevada, and in 1866 still 
another; these also being taken from Utah. When Nebraska and 
Wyoming were organized, the former in 1861, the latter in 1868, each 
was given a piece out of the northeastern corner of this Territory. 
These changes reduced Utah to her present dimensions. 

tMorgan County, founded in the spring of 1855, had been named 
for its pioneer, Jedediah Morgan Grant, at that time one of the First 
Presidency of the "Mormon" Church. Box Elder and Cache counties 
were created during the following winter. The first settlers of Box 
Elder were William Davis, James Brooks, and Thomas Pierce, who in 
1851 laid the foundations of Brigham City. Caclie County had no set- 
tlement at the time of its creation, but in July, 1856, its pioneer, Peter 
Maughan, chose a site for Maughan's Fort afterwards named Wells- 
ville in honor of General Daniel H. Wells. Kane County, called after 
Colonel Thomas L. Kane, was organized in 1856 out of a portion of 
Washington County. Wasatch County was settled in 1859 by families 
from Prri\ii and Nephi. 



180 WHITXl^V'S POl'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



was worked up at home and the remainder sent to California 
and New York. 

Lincoln and the "Mormons." — Abraham Lincoln was then 
President of the United States. He was well acquainted with 
the people who had founded Utah, having known them in Illi- 
nois, and they looked upon him as a friend. When asked, after 
his election in 1860, what he proposed to do with the "Mor- 
mons," Lincoln answered : "I propose to let them alone." He 
compared the Utah question to a green hemlock log" on a newly 
cleared frontier farm — "too heavy to move, too knotty to split, 

and too wet to burn." He pro- 
posed to "plow- around it." 

President Lincoln's ap- 
pointees for this Territory in- 
cluded John ^\^ Dawson, Gov- 
ernor; Frank F'uller, Secretary; 
and James Duane Doty, Super- 
intendent of Indian Affairs. 
Dawson was from Indiana. 
Fuller from New Llampshire, 
and Doty from Wisconsin. The 
Federal Judges were John F. 
Kinney, R. P. Flenniken and 
H. R. Crosby. Kinney had suc- 
ceeded Eckels as Chief Justice 
in July, 1860, by appointment 
from President Buchanan, and 
was continued in ofiice by Pres- 
ident Lincoln. 

"Utah Has Not Seceded." 
— During the year of the out- 
break of "The Great Rebellion," 
Utah gave a rousing celebra- 
tion of the Nation's birthda}'. 
The event, though not unusual, was significant from the fact 
that the "Mormon" people were thought to favor Secession, 
and were even suspected of cherishing a design to set up an 
independent government. In California there was talk of a 
^Vestern Confederacy, in the event of the Southern States 
winning their independence, and Utah was encouraged to join 
it and thus secure Statehood. Similar encouragement came 
from the South. But Utah would not be drawn into the mael- 
strom of disunion. She proposed to stand by the Constitution, 
and hold aloof from the strife and carnage that were then rag- 
ing. She knew no North, no South, no East, no West. Her 
attitude, so far as it could be, was one of neutrality. 

The Pacific Telegraph. -In Octol)cr, 1861, tlie Pacific 




PRESTDEXT EINCOLX. 



■IllJ'-. L'l\ iL W AK i'JiklUD. 181 

Telegraph Line, which was built from both East and West, 
reached Salt Lake City; and on the 18th of that month, it hav- 
ing been announced that the eastern division was open, the 
first use of the wire was courteously tendered to President 
Brigham Young. His dispatch of that date has become his- 
toric. It was to J. H. Wade. President of the Pacific Telegraph 
Company, Cleveland. Ohio, and contained these words : "Utah 
has not seceded, but is firm for the Constitution and laws of 
our once happy country, and is warmly interested in such use- 
ful enterprises as the one so far completed." 

President Wade answered as follows: "I ha\e the honor 
to acknowledge the receipt of your message of last evening, 
which was in every way gratifying, not only in the announce- 
ment of the completion of the Pacific Telegraph to your enter- 
prising and prosperous city, but that yours, the first message 
to pass over the line, should express so unmistakably the 
patriotism and Union-loving sentiments of yourself and peo- 
l)le." 

In the absence of Governor Dawson, Secretary Fuller 
made use of the wire to salute President Lincoln. He said : 
"Utah, whose citizens strenuously resist all imputations of dis- 
loyaltv, congratulates the President upon the completion of 
an enterprise which spans a continent, unites two oceans, and 
connects with nerve of iron the remote extremities of the 
body politic with the great governmental heart. May the 
whole system speedily thrill with the quickened pulsations of 
that heart, as the parricide hand is palsied, treason is punished, 
and the entire sisterhood of States join hands in glad reunion 
around the national fireside." President Lincoln replied : "The 
completion of the Telegraph to Great Salt Lake City is auspi- 
cious of the stability and union of the Republic. The Govern- 
ment reciprocates your congratulations." 

The arrival of the Telegraph was an event of the first im- 
portance. The electric wir'e, superseding the Pony Express, 
placed Utah in dailv communication with the Atlantic and Pa- 
cific seaboards. It' was the dawn of a new era, the full blaze 
of which, however, did not come until after the advent of 
the railroad. 

Guarding the Overland Route. — To protect the mail route 
and telegraph line from hostile Indians and other enemies of 
the Government, a portion of the Utah militia was called into 
service. President Lincoln, bv Adjutant General L. Thomas. 
in a telegram dated April 28. 1862. requested Ex-(;overnor 
Young to raise, arm and equip a company of cavalry f«n- that 
Ijurpo'se. The men were to receive the same pay as United 
States trooi)S. and eontinu<- in ser\ ire until relieved 1>\ a dv 
taclinuMil of the regular army. 



182 WHITNEY'S POPULAR lilSTORY OF UTAH. 

The response to the call was hearty and immediate. A\'ith- 
in three days Captain Lot Smith, at the head of seventy-two 
mounted men, took up line of march for Independence Rock, 
the scene of a late Indian disaster. Ben Holladay. the pro- 
prietor of the Overland Stage Line, telegraphed from New 
York thanking President Young for his "prompt response U) 
President Lincoln's request." The Lot Smith here mentioned 
was the same who in 1857 had destroyed the Government 
trains on Green River. He and his comrades now rendered 
valiant service for "Uncle Sam" and won golden opinions 
from the United States army officers who joined them with 
troops and directed their later movements. 

Another Movement for Statehood. — The winter of 1861- 
1862 found Utah again knocking for admission at the door of 
the Federal Union. The Territory then had a population of 
more than forty thousand, and in view of the secession of so 
many States the prospect for admission seemed quite favor- 
able. "We show our loyalty by trying to get in, while others 
are trying to get out," said Delegate Hooper, in a private letter 
written at the time. 

The Legislative bill providing for a Constitutional Con- 
vention was vetoed by Governor Dawson, who gave as his 
reason that there was not time enough before the date fixed 
for the election of delegates to notify the people or submit the 
measure to Congress. The delegates were chosen, however, 
and in January, 1862, they assembled at Salt Lake City, framed 
and adopted a State Constitution, and provided for the organ- 
ization of a State Government. The officers were elected in 
March, and the government was organized in April ; though, 
of course it did not go into operation. Congress was asked to 
admit Utah under the name of Deseret. 

The Memorial and the Constitution were presented at 
Washington by William H. Hooper and George Q. Cannon, 
the proposed United States Senators. Mr. Cannon, when 
elected, was in Europe, but joined his colleague at the national 
capital. Captain Hooper, on his way from Salt Lake City, was 
accompanied as far as the North Platte by a mounted escort 
under the command of Colonel Robert T. Burton. 

Governor Dawson's Departure, — Governor Dawson, who 
had succeeded Governor Gumming after a short interval dur- 
ing which Secretary Wootten was Acting Governor, made but 
a brief stay in Utah. He arrived at Salt Lake City early in 
December, 1861, but within thirty days set out upon his return 
to Indiana, having fallen into disgrace by making an inde- 
ccDt proi^osal lo a respcctal)lc woman. At Hanks' '^'^-i-' "^ 
lion, cast of LiUlc Maintain, llic coach in wliicli llic <"Hi\cnior 



■Jill'; ci\ IL WAR n':ui(jD. 



183 




was traveling- was waylaid by a gang of ruffians, whu rojjhed 
and maltreated him. But lie was soon avenged. Within a 
few weeks three of the despera- 
does, who had been the terrtn- 
of the community, were slain 
while resisting officers of the 
law. Before Dawson's arrival, 
and after his departure. Secre- 
tary Frank Fuller acted as 
Governor pending the ay)point- 
nient of another F.\ccuti\e. 

Why Utah Was Kept Out 
of the Union. — Congress was 
not yet converted to the idea 
of admitting Utah into the 
Union, and many years elapsed 
before conversion came. The 
main cause was a deep-seated 
suspicion that the majority of 
the people of this Territor}- 
were unfriendly to the Nation. 
An un-American condition of 
affairs was supposed to exist 
here, hostile to the Government 
and subversive of morality and 
civilization. Priestcraft, polygamy, and murder were thought 
to be the chief corner-stones of "Mormonism." .\ union of 
Church and State was alleged. It was charged that the "Mor- 
mon" people were under the sway of an ecclesiastical despot- 
ism which "overshadowed and controlled their opinions, ac- 
tions, propert)', and lives, penetrating and supervising social 
and business circles, and requiring implicit oi)edience to the 
counsel of the Church, as a duty paramount to all the obliga- 
tions of morality, society, allegiance and law." 

The Real "Mormon" Attitude. — As a matter of fact, the 
"Mormon" people have never been in bondage to anyone. 'Jlie 
(obedience they render to their Church is purely voluntary, as 
in the case of the Catholic Church, or any other religious body 
in Christendom. Compulsion is no part of the "Mormon" sys- 
tem. Murder, to the Fatter-day Saint, is most abhorrent; and 
the execution of the nnn^derer, by the .^tate. the onl}- adequate 
punishment in such cases. The extreme penalty visited by 
the Church upon recalcitrant members is excommunication. 
The civic afTairs of the i)eo])le are as distinct from their spir- 
itual affairs as the taxes they pay to the ( icn-ernnient are sep- 
arate from the tithes given to the Church. Their allegiance to 
God makes obligator}- upon them the fullest and truest U^yalty 



(;o\-ERNOR I) \\\S( )X. 



184 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

to the Nation. Ain'thin,^ to the contrary is a misconception 
of the "Mormon" attitude. 

While denouncing- the mobs that shed their blood, burned 
their homes, and drove them into the wilderness; and while 
criticizing men who sanctioned those misdeeds, or were indif- 
ferent to a redress of such grievances, they have steadfastly 
affirmed their fealty to country and their attachment to Amer- 
ican institutions. Goaded and exasperated, they have at times 
given vent to their feelings and made freer use of their tongues 
than men and women living in less strenuous days would deem 
necessary or wise;. but that such expressions against persons 
or policies constitute treason to the Government, or unfriend- 
liness to the Nation, the "Mormons" emphatically deny. Hold- 
ing the Government of the United States to have been founded 
by heavenly inspiration, and revering the Federal Constitution 
almost as a divine instrument, disloyalty to countr}^ would 
mean to them treason to God, falsity to their most sacred 
convictions. 

"An Establishment of Religion." — As for polygamy, or 
the plural wife system, that was a feature of their religious 
faith, part of a principle known as Eternal Marriage, or mar- 
riage for time and eternity. And yet only a limited number of 
those connected with the Church entered into the practice of 
plural marriage ; but they were generally influential and among 
the best men and women of the community. Coming to them 
as a revelation from God, this principle was viewed as "an es- 
tablishment of religion," with which Congress, under the Con- 
stitution, had no right to interfere.* 

The Anti-Bigamy Law. — Against this form of marriage, 
however, the Federal Government sternly set its face, and un- 
til the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints withdrew 
sanction from the further solemnization of plural marriages, 
Utah knocked in vain for admission into the Union. The 
answer to her prayer for Statehood in 1862 was the Anti- 

*"]\Iormon" plural marriage was not the oriental polygamy of 
modern times. The harem or seraglio was unknown. Each wife had 
her own home, as a rule, with her own children around her; and the 
several wives of one man were all equally honorable in the commu- 
nity, and their children equally legitimate, so far as the Church was 
concerned. Plural marriage was not bigamy; it involved neither de- 
sertion nor deception. The first wife was a party to it, her consent 
being obtained by her husband before he added another wife to his 
household. "Polygamy." meaning "many marriages." signified among 
the "Mormons" plurality of wives — nothing more, and the most rigid 
morality was required of those who entered into such relations. It 
was held to be the restored marriage system of the Hebrew patriarchs: 
hence its other name. Patriarchal Marriage. It was also termed Celes- 
tial Marriaere, though that signified marringe for eternity, whether 
with one wife or more. The marital status is regarded by the Latter- 
day Saints as a condition precedent tn the nttainment of the highest 
exaltation hereafter. 



'J'lll'. CI\IL WAk I'I'-KIOI). 185 

Ri!4"am_v Law, the first let^islation (tf the kind that found its way 
into the statute book of the Nation. 'JMic l)ill fur tliis law was 
introduced into the House of Representatives by Justin S. 
Morrill, of \"ermont. 1 laving- passed both houses of Congress, 
it received the signature nf President Lincoln. July 8, 1862.* 

The Morrisite Affair. — During the summer of that year 
Utah had a reliellion of her own, and its suppression cost sev- 
eral lives. .It was known as "The Morrisite War," in which 
the leader of a small religious sect and a few of his followers 
were killed while resisting a Marshal's posse, sent to serve 
and enforce a process of the Third District Court. Two of the 
l)osse were also slain. 

llie "Morrisites." numbering about five hundred men, 
women and children, inhabited a little settlement called King- 
ton Fort, immediatel}' west from the mouth of Weber Can- 
yon. Three of the men, upon attempting to leave the fort 
without making satisfactory settlement of certain claims, were 
imprisoned, and the leaders, Joseph Morris, John Banks, Rich- 
ard Cooke, John Parsons, and Peter Klemgaard, disregarded 
and treated with contempt a writ of habeas corpus, issued 
by Chief Justice Kinney, commanding them to bring before 
him the persons they held in custody. This writ, dated Mav 
22, 1862, was issued to the Territorial Marshal, Henrv A\\ 
Lawrence, and served by his deputy, Judson L. Stodd^'-^' 

After the service of the process there was a delay of over 
two weeks, during which one of the captives eluded the vigi- 
lance of his guards and regained his liberty. The others, Wil- 
liam Jones and John Jenson, were kept in close confinement, 
upon no particular charge and certainly without any warrant 
of law. The delay was occasioned by a desire on the part of 
the civil of^cers to avert trouble. The "Morrisites," fanatical, 
well armed, and well drilled, were capable of a strong resist- 
ance, and the hope was entertained that by the exercise of 
moderation the aftair could be made to terminate without vio- 
lence. 

In response to repeated importunities from the wives and 



*This statute classed plural marriage witli liiganiy, and made it 
punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars and imprisonment for a 
term of five years. Tt was the ceremony of plural marriage that was 
aimed at. not the living in polygamous relations: that point being left 
untouched. Certain acts of the Utah Legislature, supposed to counte- 
nance, encourage, and protect plural marriage, wereannulled, and the 
propertv-holding power of religious organizations in ihe Territories 
was limited, in real estate, to the value of fifty thousand dollars. The 
law proved inoperative, little or no effort being made to enforce it. 
The Latter-day Saints regarded it as unconstitutional, and this oiMuion 
was shared by lawyers, editors and statesmen all over the land. The 
statute was in existence, seventeen vcar- before the Supreme Court of 
llu' T'nilcMl States declared il constitutional. 



186 WHITNEY'S rul'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

other relatives of the imprisoned men, Judge Kinney, on the 
10th of June, issued another writ, this time directing the Ter- 
ritorial Marshal to arrest the "Morrisite" leaders and bring 
them into court, to be dealt with according to law. The charge 
against them now was twofold: First, unlawful imprisonment 
of the seceding members of their sect; second, contempt of 
court in refusing to release them when commanded. General 
Wells, being called upon for a military posse, furnished suf- 
ficient force to overcome all opposition. Marshal Lawrence 
was then absent from the Territory, and the responsibility of 
carrying out the order of the court devolved upon his chief 
deputy. Colonel Robert T. Rurton. 

Early on the morning of June 13th, the Marshal's posse. 
numl)ering two hundred and fifty men, arrived near Kingtfjn 
Fort. A summons to surrender within thirty minutes was sent 
in, with a further direction to the inmates, that if resistance 
was determined upon, they were to remove their women and 
children to places of safety. They were likewise informed that 
all peaceably disposed persons would find protection with tlic 
posse. 

The command to surrender was unheeded by Morris, who 
encouraged his followers to resist, promising them divine pro- 
tection. After an hour or more, no word having come from 
the fort, two cannon shots were fired from a bluff where the 
posse stood, as a warning to the rebellious inmates. One of 
these shots passed high over the fort and struck the opposite 
bluff; the other, alighting in a field between the posse and 
the fort, bounded into a bowery where the people were assem- 
bled, killing two women and wounding a young girl. 

The "Morrisites" grasped their guns and ran to their en- 
trenchments. During the three days' battle and siege that 
followed, two of the besiegers, Jared Smith and J. P. AVhiplin 
fell. After the fighting on the first day. Colonel Burton sent a 
written report to Acting-Governor Fuller, who answered him 
in these words: "The shedding of blood in resistance to civil 
authority renders execution of the law imperative. * * * 
Let your acts be tempered with mercy, but see that the laws 
are vindicated." 

About sunset of the third day a white flag was hoisted by 
I hose within the fort, and the leader of the posse, with a few 
men, rode in to receive the surrender. AVhile the "Morris- 
ites" were stacking their arms, leave was asked for their leader 
to address them. The request was granted on condition that 
he would say nothing to cause further excitement. Morris, 
wdio was probablv insane, disregarded this caution. Lifting his 
hands above his'head. he shouted: "All who are willing to 
follow me through life and death, come on!" Shonts f)f ap- 



'j'l IE civil. w'Ak i'I':ri()1). 



187 



proval met the appeal, and a dash was made fur the firearms. 
A hundred frenzied fanatics confronted the Deputy Marshal 
and his slender escort. The moment was one of extreme peril. 
He commanded the leaders to halt. They heeded not. The 
command was repeated, and again ignored. Colonel Burton 
then seized the pistol in his holster and fired twice, several of 
his men doing likewise. Morris was killed. Banks was wounded, 
and two women were accidentally slain. The survivors, hav- 
ing laid down their arms, were marched to Salt Lake Citv and 
placed under bonds to appear at the next session of the District 
Court. 

Everyone deplored tiie fatalities connected with this 
unfortunate afifair, none more sincerely than the leader of the 
posse. He was harshly criticized by some, who contended 
that the "Morrisites" (dissenting "Mormons") had been un- 
justly dealt with, and that religious rancor had instigated the 
proceedings against them. As a matter of fact, they had been 
shown every reasonable consideration, by the ecclesiastical as 
well as by the civic authorities. None dreamed that the 
sequel, many years later, would 
be the trial for murder of the 
brave and efficient officer who 
had faithfully ])erformed the 
painful duty laid upon him. His 
acquittal was confidently look- 
ed for, and was greeted with 
general satisfaction. 

New Governor and Judges. 
— The next incumbent of the 
Governor's office was Stephen 




S. Harding, of Indiana. Ap- 
pointed during March, 1862, he 
arrived at Salt Lake City in 
July, and was followed shortly 
by Associate Justices Charles 
B'. Waite and Thomas J. Drake, 
who succeeded Judges Flenni- 
ken and Crosby. Waite was 
from Illinois, and Drake from 
Michigan. 

Colonel Connor and His Command. — The suspicion that 
the people of Utah, or the great majority of them, were dis- 
loval. and tliat a condition of aff'airs existed here that might 
at' any time l)reak out into open revolt against the Federal 
Government, induced Secretary of War Stanton to order the 
establishnuMit near Salt I .ake ('il\ of a military post, to be 
maintained lor the p^n■po^e "l "watrhiiig Brigham ^'oung .and 



(;o\i;kx()r hakding. 



188 WllJTNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

the Mormons." This was the principal reason why Camp 
Douglas (now Fort Dout^las) was founded by Colonel Patrick 
Edward Connor and the California and Nevada Volunteers. 

The "Mormon" people, ofifended by the imputation that 
came with the troops, were probably no more chagrined l)y 
the action of the War Department than was Colonel Connor 

himself. A tame and super- 
fluous task had been assigned 
to a man of restless energy, a 
brave man and a born fighter. 
He had been a captain during 
the Mexican ^Var, and when 
the news of the attack on Fort 
Sumter reached the Pacific 
Coast, had promptly placed his 
sword at his country's service. 
Commissioned a colonel of in- 
fantry by the Governor of Cali- 
fornia, Connor had recruited 
his companies and was expect- 
ing to be sent to the front, 
when he received the disap- 
pointing order to march to 
Utah — ostensibly to guard the 
Overland Route, and hold the 

Indians in check ; in reality to 

:neral CONNOR. perform vedette duty, keep the 

Government acquainted with 
affairs in and around Salt Lake City, and extend protection to 
"Gentiles" and apostates who might complain of oppression 
at the hands of their "Mormon" neighbors. 

Marching to Utah. — Colonel Connor set out for Utah in 
July, 1862. His command then consisted of the Third Cali- 
fornia Infantry and part of the Second California Cavalry. On 
the way a few companies from Nevada joined them, making 
the entire force a little more than seven hundred men. Lea\'- 
ing his troops in K'uby \"alley. the commander came on to 
Salt Lake City, arriving early in September. He remained a 
few days, and then rejoined his troops in Nevada. Finding his 
officers and men still l)urning with impatience to be sent to the 
seat of war, he endorsed their demand to that effect in a dis- 
l)atch to the General in Chief of the United States Army.* 




*Colone1 Connor stated that his men were of no service on the 
mail route, whicli conld be amply protected by the cavalry already in 
the Utah District. They authorized the Paymaster to withhold thirty 
thousand didlars due to them, and proffered to pay their own passap:e 
Iriini San l''i anciscd In i'anaiua. il" the Tlov criiuicnl wduld (Uil\' ordi-r 
llu-ui I'.asl "to li.uhl Iraitiu's." Suh-^eiiucnlly uue ol" the N'oliuiteers 



TIIECJNML WAR LM<:RI()1). 



189 



The Volunteers continued their niarcli, reaching, on the 
17th of October, Fort Crittenden (okl Cam]) Floyd) which had 
passed into the possession of private parties, who had pur- 
chased the building's from the Government. Hoping to re-sell 
at a large profit, these owners did all in their power to persuade 
Colonel Connor to establish permanent cjuarters there. He, 
however, had set his heart upon a location nearer the Utah 
capital. While proceeding northward, at the Point of the 
Mountain a rumor reached him to the efifect that his advance 
would be resisted by an armed force, and preparations were 
made to encounter the opposition ; but it did not appear. Later 
it was learned that the warlike rumor had been circulated by 
the Camp Floyd speculators, in the hope of influencing a recon- 
sideration of the commander's purpose. 

Founding Camp Douglas. — It was the 20th of October 




OFFICERS' QUARTERS, FORT DOUGLAS. 

when Colonel Connor with his troops entered Salt Lake City. 
Their coming created no excitement. Llaving saluted the Gov- 
ernor at his residence, not far from the Theatre corner, they 
marched on to the eastern foothills, between two and three 
miles from the centre of town, and there encamped preparatory 
to building Camp Douglas, on a beautiful site overlooking Salt 

wrote thus to the San Francisco Bulletin: "BriKham Young offers to 
protect the entire line with one hundred men. Why we were sent here 
is a mystery. It could not be to keep Morniondom in order, for Brig- 
ham can thoroughly annihilate us with the five thousand to twenty-five 

thousand troutier'^nuMi ahvavs at his conmiaud." 



190 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Lake Valley. Until the erection of regular barracks, the sol- 
diers sheltered themselves in huts and dug-outs. Camp Doug- 
las was named after Senator Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois. 

For the uses of the military post the waters of Red Butte 
Canyon were appropriated ; thus diminishing the none too plen- 
tiful supply for settlers below. Moreover, that portion of the 
stream which reached the plain was befouled by diversion to 
the neighborhood of stables and corrals, and so rendered unfit 
for drinking or for culinary purposes. Added to this annoy- 
ance, when the Camp Douglas reservation was set apart, it was 
found to overlap the borders of the municipality. These cir- 
cumstances constituted the main objections to the placing of 
the post on that particular site.* 

The Bear River Battle. — In January, 1863, Colonel Con- 
nor, with about three hundred men, fought the battle of Bear 
River, defeating an equal force of Indians — Bannocks and Sho- 
shones — and completely breaking the power of the hostiles in 
that region. The main incidents leading up to the fight were 
the killing of some miners while passing through Cache Val- 
ley on their way from the Dakota gold fields, and the proposed 
arrest of three Indian chiefs who were held responsible for the 
murder. Warrants of arrest issued by Judge Kinney were 
placed in the hands of United States Marshal Isaac L. Gibbs, 
and he laid the matter before the commander at Fort Douglas. 
Three days later Colonel Connor started a company of in- 
fantry, with two howitzers, for the Indian camp, twelve miles 
from the present town of Franklin, Idaho, and he soon fol- 
lowed with four companies of cavalry, having as his guide 
the famous "Mormon" scout, Orrin Porter Rockwell. Marshal 
Gibbs also went with the expedition. The hardships of the 
march were extreme, the snow being deep and the cold in- 
tense. 

The battle was fought on the 29th, beginning at six 
o'clock in the morning. The Indians were entrenched in a 
narrow dry ravine, whose steep, rocky sides sheltered them 
from the fire of their assailants. The latter, advancing along 
the level tableland, were exposed to the volleys of a concealed 
foe, and several fell, killed or wounded, at the first fire. These 
were cavalrymen, who were endeavoring to surround the sav- 
ages, when the latter defeated the movement by attacking 
them. Meantime the infantry had forded the icy waters of 
Bear River, and a successful flanking movement soon enabled 



*Happily these grievances have all passed away. By successive 
acts of Congress, parts of the military reservation have been inchided 
in the campus of the University of Utah, and, what is still more grati- 
fying, friendly relations have existed for many years between the City 
in the plain and the Post on the liill. 



THE LIVIJ. WAR I'EKloD. 191 

the troops to pour an cnfiladin.t;- fire into the ravine. The In- 
dians fought with fury, but were now at a disadvantage, and 
by ten o'clock their rout was complete.* 

Colonel Connor's victory proved a great boon to the set- 
tlers of Northern Utah. It sounded a warning to the savages 
that did not need to be repeated. The War Department com- 
mended the Volunteers for their gallant service, and their 
Colonel was commissioned a Brigadier General. 

Bear Lake Valley Colonized. — During 1863 Bear Lake 
\'alley was explored by General Charles C. Rich, who, in 1864, 
founded the first settlements in that part. These were the 
towns of Paris and St. Charles, now in Southeastern Idaho. 
St. Charles was named in honor of General Rich. The same 
year Richland (now Rich) County was organized out of a por- 
tion of Caclie County, and likewise christened for its founder. 

Call's Landing — The Muddy Mission. — Southward, also, 
the work of colonization continued. Late in 1864 Anson Call, 
the pioneer of Millard County, was sent to "the head of nav- 
igation" on the Colorado River, to select a site for a Church 
station and warehouse; the purpose being to bring emigrants 
and freight by that route from the Pacific Coast. A station 
known as Call's Landing was established more than a hun- 
dred miles southwest from St. George. After the first ship- 
ment of goods the enterprise languished; its further develop- 
ment being arrested by the prospective early completion of the 
trans-continental railroad. The establishment of Call's Land- 
ing led to the founding of the Muddy Mission, just over the 
L'tah-Nevada line.y 

Governor Harding's Change of Heart. — At the beginning 
of his administration. Governor Harding manifested much 
friendliness toward the founders of Utah. In an eloquent ad- 
dress on Pioneer Day, he commended their industry and pa- 
triotism, and declared that he came among them "a. messenger 
of peace and good will," with "no w^rongs to complain of and 



*Among the slain chiefs were Bear Hunter, Sagvvitcli and Lehi. 
Two other chiefs, Sanpitch and Pocatello, with about fifty l^raves, es- 
caped. The losses on the other side were fourteen killed and forty- 
nine ^vounded. Eight of these died within ten days, tlie number in- 
cluding Lieutenant Darwin Chase, who had been a "Mormon." He 
was buried at Farmington. Seventy Indian lodges were burned, and a 
large quantity of grain, implements and other property, believed to 
have been stolen from emigrants, was destroyed or carried to Camp 
Douglas and sold. 

tThis mission, whose pioneer was Thomas S. Smith, comprised the 
settlements of St. Thomas, St. Josepli and Overton, which date from 
1865. Later, they were abandoned, but only temporarily. All three 
ti>wns are nnw in Lincoln ("onr.tw Xc\;ulri. 



192 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

no religious prejudice to overcome." In his speech of wel- 
come to Colonel Connor he expressed disappointment at his 
coming with his command to Salt Lake City, instead of re- 
occupying old Camp Floyd, but disclaimed for the Govern- 
ment or its representatives any unfriendly motive in connec- 
tion with the troops. He advised citizens and soldiers to re- 
spect each other's rights, and pledged to both his sympathy 
and support for the maintenance of law and order. 

But the feelings of the new Executive soon underw^ent a 
radical change. Adopting the notion prevalent at Camp Doug- 
las, that the majority of the people were not in sympathv with 
the Federal Government, Harding, in his first message to the 
Legislature, December, 1862, criticised them on that score. He 
also found fault with their religion — the plural marriage princi- 
ple, practised by some of them. 

Federal Officials Versus the People. — Subsequently it be- 
came known that the Governor, with Judges Waite and Drake, 
was seeking to influence Congressional legislation, with a 
view to placing the selection of jurors in the hands of the 
United States Marshal, and empowering the Governor to ap- 
point all the militia of^cers of the Territory. Much indigna- 
tion was felt and expressed over what was considered an at- 
tempt "to subvert every right of free citizenship," and at a 
mass meeting held in the Old Tabernacle, where speeches were 
made by Brigham Young, John Taylor, and others, the Gov- 
ernor and the two Judges were accused of endeavoring to stir 
up strife, not only between the p^eople of' Salt Lake City and the 
troops at Camp Douglas, but also between the citizens of the 
Territory and the Government of the United States. Resolu- 
tions of censure were passed, and a committee consisting of 
John Taylor, Jeter Clinton and Orson Pratt, was appointed 
to wait upon the three officials and request them to resign. In 
anticipation of a refusal on their part, a petition was sent to 
Washington, asking President Lincoln to remove them. 

As expected, the request for the resignation proved un- 
availing. Moreover, a counter petition, signed by General Con- 
nor and his officers, asking that the Governor and Judges be 
allowed to retain their places, was forwarded to the capital of 
the Nation. 

Exciting Rumors. — About this time a rumor became "cur- 
rent that troops from Camp Douglas were preparing to make 
a descent upon the home of President Young and "run him otf 
to the States for trial ;" a recent case of polygamy being the 
alleged cause of action. General Connor denied that such a 
movement was contemplated, but his denial did not con^'ince, 
and the residence of the "Mormon" leader was surrounded 
iii"ht and dav bv armed guards, ready to defend him against 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 193 

any assault. On the charge preferred, President Young sub- 
mitted to arrest by the United States Marshal, and was taken 
before Chief Justice Kinney at the State House (Council 
House). After a hearing the Judge held him in bonds to await 
the action of the Grand Jury. That body failed to indict him. 
and he was discharged on the ground of insufiicient evidence. 

A very bitter feeling now prevailed ; the relations be- 
tween civilians and soldiers were tense and strained; and a 
collision seemed imminent. Sensational reports were tele- 
graphed abroad, and the press teemed with comments upon the 
prospect of "another Utah war." As usual, the "Mormons" 
received most of the blame. Some of the papers, however, 
mcluding one or more in California, were outspoken in their 
criticism of the Camp Douglas commander. He was accused 
of "kicking up trouble," and reminded that the Government 
had "enough fighting on its hands," and there was "no neces- 
sity of increasing it." 

Convictions and Pardons.— At the March term of the 
Third District Court (1863) the "Morrisites" captured at the 
surrender of Kington Fort were tried before Chief Justice Kin- 
ney. Of ten men who had been indicted for killing two mem- 
bers of the Marshal's posse, seven were convicted of murder 
in the second degree, and two acquitted; the remaining one 
not being prosecuted. Those convicted were sentenced to va- 
rious terms of imprisonment. Sixty-nine others were fined 
one hundred dollars each for resisting an officer of the law. 
Within three days of the trial Governor Harding, in response 
to a petition from Federal and Camp Douglas officers, par- 
doned all the convicted men and set them at liberty.* 

Indignant Judge and Grand Jury. — Indignant at this 
action of the Governor, the Grand Jury passed formal censure 
upon his course. Judge Kinney approved of what the Grand 
Jury had done, and ordered the presentment spread upon the 
records of the court. 

Removals and Appointments. — -In June of that year Gov- 
ernor Harding was removed from office. His successor was 
James Duane Doty, former Indian Superintendent. Doty 
was a very estimable gentleman, and his appointment gave 
general satisfaction. Harding's removal, according to Mr. 

*Most of these people, after being employed at Camp Douglas for 
a time, accompanied a detachment of troops to Idaho, where a new 
military post was established in the vicinity of Soda Springs. Before 
leaving Utah one of their number, Alexander Dow. made affidavit be- 
fore Associate Justice Waite, relative to the affair at Kington Fort. 
He declared that the shooting of Morris and Banks and the two women 
was deliberate and unprovoked. The Dow affidavit was the ground- 
work for the prosecution instituted in after years against the officer 
who had carried out the mandate of the court and compelled obedience 
to its authority. 

12 



1'.'4 Will rXRN'S I'Ol'll.AK IIISroKV OK UTAH. 




Steuhouse, "did credit to llic ( lovernnieiit ;" his private life not 
being of sncli a character as to make him the proper person to 

lecture the "Mormons" on the 
immorality of polygamy. Judge 
Kinney and Secretary Fuller 
were also removed; "subservi- 
ency to Brigham Young" be- 
ing the privately expressed rea- 
son in their case. The vacan- 
cies were filled by the appoint- 
ment of John Titus as Chief 
Justice, and Amos Reed as Sec- 
retary. Titus was from Penn- 
sylvania, and Reed from Wis- 
consin. Judges Waite and 
Drake retained their places. 
The former, in the intervals of 
official duty, busied himself 
in the preparation of a book, 
''The Mormon Prophet," a 
work much quoted by subse- 
quent "Anti-Mormon" writers. 
Kinney as Delegate. — In 
August, 1863, Judge Kinney 
was elected Delegate to Con- 
gress. He followed Dr. Bern- 
hisel, who had served a third term, succeeding Captain Hooper 
in 1861. Delegate Kinney's first speech in Congress (Janu- 
ary, 1864) was a ringing reply to Representative Fernando 
Wood, of New York, who, on the floor of the House, had re- 
ferred to the people of Utah as "profligate outcasts," always 
"hostile to the moral and political institutions of the United 
States." In another speech, delivered, in March, Kinney 
made a strong appeal for the admission of Utah into the 
Union, presenting a bill for an act to enable the people of the 
Territory to form a State Government. The appeal, as usual, 
was in vain.* 

*Mr. Wood, in his unfrientlly allusion to Utah, laid stress upon 
her militant attitude toward the Federal Government in 1857-1858. 
The New York Congressman, being a pronounced "Copperhead," had 
a vulnerable spot in his armor, and Kinney's keen verbal weapon 
quickly found it. He declared that a man who would stand up in the 
American Congress, at a time when the Government was struggling for 
its existence, and pronounce the effort made by it to put down the 
rebellion "a hellish crusade," ought to be expelled as unworthy to 
ocupy a seat upon that floor. He then stated the facts connected with 
the Utah Expedition, and eulogized the toils and sacrifices of the 
founders of the Territory. The Philadelphia Press described the 
speech as "a sharp, opportune and overwhelming reply to the Chief of 
Copperheads." 



GOVERNOR DOTV. 



Til E CI V [ I . WAR PERIO O. 195 

The Mining Movement. — Jii llic auUiniii of 1863 General 
Connor headed a movement for the development of Utah's 
mining resources. That the Wasatch, Oquirrh, and Uintah 
Mountains teemed with all kinds of minerals, had long been 
known. Iron in Iron County, lead in Beaver County, copper 
in Salt Lake County, and coal in many parts, had been mined 
long before the founder of Camp Douglas came to the Terri- 
tory. The Rollins Lead Mine, near Minersville, had been 
worked as early as 1858, and there the Lincoln Mining District 
was organized in 1861. But the first settlers, and especially 
the leaders, did not favor mining for the precious metals dur- 
ing the primitive days of the commonwealth. Some of their 
reasons have already been presented. It but remains to say 
that their experience during Camp Floyd times had strength- 
ened their determination not to encourage the flocking into 
Utah of a rough and reckless element, such as is commonly 
found among inhabitants of mining camps, the world over. 
They made no secret of their opposition to such an undesir- 
able inflow, nor did they apologize for their attitude in relation 
to it. That attitude, however, furnished "Anti-Mormonism" 
with one of its most effective weapons ; the plausible though 
groundless statement being made that all "Gentiles" were un- 
welcome in Utah, and that it was the purpose and policy of 
the "Mormons" to prevent them from settling here. 

The mining movement of 1863 began in Bingham Canyon, 
one of the gorges of the Oquirrh Mountains running into 
Salt Lake Valley. A logger named Ogilvie picked up a piece 
of silver-bearing ore and sent it to General Connor, who had 
it assayed. The General then visited the canyon, with a party 
of officers and their wives, and one of the ladies, while ram- 
bling on the mountain side, found another loose piece of ore. 
The soldiers prospected for the vein, and having discovered 
it, made their location, naming the mine "The Jordan." Their 
commander drew up some mining regulations, and at a meet- 
ing of miners held at Gardner's Mill, the West Mountain 
Mining District was organized. About that time General 
Connor, with some of his troops, reoccupied the old Rush 
Valley grazing grounds, which the soldiers at Camp Floyd 
had used. There they laid off the town of Stockton, and pro- 
ceeded to explore and prospect for mines in that vicinity. 

Proposed Regeneration. — The Commander of the Utah 
Military District did not hide the fact that he had formed 
plans for the development of this part of the country, quite at 
variance with those favored by Brigham Young and the Pio- 
neers. He had set himself the task of "regenerating" the 
Territory. His avowed policy was "to invite hither a large 
Gentile and loyal population, suflicient by peaceful means 



196 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

and through the ballot box to overwhelm the Mormons by 
mere force of numbers, and thus wrest from the Church — dis- 
loyal and traitorous to the core — the absolute and tyrannical 
control of temporal and civil affairs." Such was his frank, 
almost fierce, announcement. 

Vedette and Telegraph. — In pursuance of this policy, 
General Connor established a paper, "The Union Vedette," 
which was published first at Camp Douglas and afterwards 
at Salt Lake City. Its tone was militant, like its title. The 
editor was Captain Charles H. Hempstead, one of Connor's 
subordinates, afterwards a leading member of the Utah Bar. 
The "Vedette," at the time of its appearance, was the one jour- 
nalistic rival of the "Deseret News;" the "Valley Tan" and 
the "Mountaineer" having ceased to exist. In January, 1864, 
it became a daily paper, the first one published in the Terri- 
tory. During the following July "The Daily Telegraph" ap- 
peared, with T. B. H. Stenhouse as editor. Mr. Stenhouse 
was then a "Mormon." 

The Vedette, in its first number, contained a circular let- 
ter on the mining outlook, signed by Captain Hempstead as 
Adjutant. General Connor promised protection to all miners 
who would come to Utah, and stated that "should violence 
be offered or attempted" to miners in the pursuit of their law- 
ful occupation, "the offender or offenders, one or many, would 
be tried as public enemies and punished to the utmost extent 
of martial law." Such was the spirit of the so-called "Re- 
generators." Utah was to be reformed, not only through the 
ballot box, but if need be at the point of the bayonet. 

A Provost Guard. — The Camp Douglas commander fol- 
lowed up this proclamation by placing a provost guard in 
Salt Lake City. The troops were quartered in a long, low 
adobe building, originally a store, then standing nearly oppo- 
site the south gate of Temple Block. The building was owned 
by the "Mormon" Church, but had been let to Captain Stover, 
for a military storehouse. General Connor ordered Stover 
with his wares to Camp Douglas, and proceeded to utilize the 
building for quite another purpose. Captain Hempstead was 
the provost marshal, and Company "L" of the Second Cali-- 
fornia Cavalry, the guard. They took possession of their 
quarters on a Sunday afternoon, just as the people were as- 
sembling for worship in the Tabernacle across the way. 

General Connor gave as his reasons for placing this 
guard, that the chief men of the "Mormon" Church were 
"making their tabernacles and places of worship resound each 
Sabbath with the most outrageous abuse of all that pertained 
to the Government ;" and that "their prayers were ascending 
loudlv from the house tops for a continuance of the War till 



THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD. 197 

the hated Union should be sunk." Along with these allega- 
tions went others to the effect that the establishment of the 
guard had caused excitement and armed assembling among the 
"Mormons," and that the mining movement, "despite the 
counsel, threats, and obstacles of the Church," was "going on 
with giant strides."* 

The plain facts were these : General Connor's mining move- 
ment was struggling for a bare existence, and by the end of 
another year had disappeared almost entirely ; and that, too, 
without interference from anybody. At the Tabernacle and 
in other places there was much heated talk; but it was aimed 
at the "Regenerators" and others like them. Men in high 
places were criticised — as they always have been, in every 
State and Territory of the Union ; but no "Mormon" consid- 
ered such criticism an assault upon the Government itself. 
There was no great influx of "Gentile" miners and merchants, 
and no excitement and armed assembling among the "Mor- 
mons." As to "prayers ascending from the house tops," the 
reader need scarcely be assured that for that bit of orientalism 
the fiery commander was drawing upon an overheated imag- 
ination. 

The duties of the provost guard were not onerous. Be- 
yond the occasional arrest of some half drunken "Southern 
sympathizer," who, to tantalize "the boys in blue" would 
"hurrah for Jeff Davis" in their hearing, the soldiers had lit- 
tle to do. Persons arrested were made to pace to and fro in 
front of the guard-house, carrying upon their shoulders heavy 
bags of sand. While attempting an arrest in front of the 
Salt Lake Theatre, just as the audience was dispersing one 
night, a member of the guard fired into the crowd, wounding 
an innocent bystander, a young man named William Vander- 
hoof. Luckily he was not seriously hurt. After about a year, 
the guard was withdrawn. f 

Bridging the Chasm. — The social gulf dividing citizens 
and soldiers was happily bridged on the 4th of March, 1865, 
when both sides joined in celebrating the second inaugura-' 
tion of President Lincoln. A public procession, in which 
Camp Douglas officers and troops, with Federal and City au- 
thorities and detachments of the militia, took part, was fol- 
lowed by a program of exercises in front of "The Market." 
at the junction of Main and First South Streets. There was 
an introductory address by Captain Hempstead, and prayer 



*See letter of General Connor, dated Camp Douglas, July 21, 1864, 
to Assistant Adjutant General R. C. Drum. San Francisco. 

tTlie olil slfjreluiuse vacated hy tlic trooi)s l)i'came in after years 
the Deserct Museum. At one time it luiuscd a department of the Uni 
versify of Doscrct, wliich had its hnme in the Council House, nearby. 



198 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

by the Camp Douglas chaplain, Reverend Norman McLeod, 
after which came an oration from Judge Titus and a speech 
from Ex-Delegate Hooper. The Federal troops were escorted 
back to the post by Colonel Burton and the citizen cav- 
alry. During the evening, at a banquet given in the City 
Hall, and attended by Camp Douglas officers and others, 
Mayor Smoot proposed as a toast : "The health of President 
Lincoln, and success to the armies of the Union!" 

General Connor was much impressed with what he saw 
and heard that day. The patriotic pageantry and sentiments, 
so heartily applauded by the multitude, were in the nature of 
a revelation to the stern warrior. "He wanted differences to 
be forgotten," says Mr. Stenhouse, "and with gentlemanly 
frankness approached the author with extended hand and 
expressed the joy he felt in witnessing the loyalty of the masses 
of the people." The Vedette expressed itself in a similar tone. 
A discontinuance of that paper was hinted at by its founder, 
in recognition of what he re^garded as a decided change in the 
conditions surrounding him. But most of the metamorphosis 
was within himself. The people of Utah had always been pa- 
triotic, but his prejudice had prevented him from seeing it. 
General Connor's eyes were being opened to the true situa- 
tion in this much misunderstood Territory. 

Mourning for Lincoln. — Six weeks later the awful news 
was flashed over the wires that President Lincoln had been as- 
sassinated. Utah joined in the general sorrow, and civilians 
and soldiers, again uniting, mourned together over the Na- 
tion's martyr. It was Saturday, April 15th, when the terri- 
ble tidings came. Everywhere flags were displayed at half 
mast, and public and private buildings were draped in mourn- 
ing. "Brigham Young's carriage was driven through town 
covered with crepe" — so said the Vedette — -"and everyone 
throughout the city, that is, of the right-minded class, mani- 
fested the deepest sorrow at the horrible news conveyed b}- 
the telegraph." On the day of the President's burial a joint 
funeral service was held in the Old Tabernacle, City Marshal 
Jesse C. Little having charge of the proceedings.* 

*Three "Mormon" Apostles took part in the service, namel}', 
Amasa M. Lyman, who delivered an address; and Wilford Woodruff 
and Franklin D. Richards, who offered the opening and closing prayers. 
The onljr other speaker was Reverend Norman McLeod. 



XVIII. 
LATER IN THE SIXTIES. 

1865-1867. 

The Colfax Visit. — Durini;- the year 1865 a number of i)er- 
sons of national repute, on their way to or from the Pacific 
Coast, stopped off at the Utah capital. One of them was 
Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Included in his party were Lieutenant-Governor William 
Bross. of Illinois; Samuel Bowles, editor of the Spring-field 
(Massachusetts) Republican ; and Albert D. Richardson, of the 
editorial stafif of the New York Tribune. They arrived at Salt 
Lake City on Sunday, June 11th, and remained eight days. 

It was largely owing to Mr. Colfax and his efforts in 
Congress, that the far West was then in the enjoyment of a 
daily mail and a telegraph line, and was soon to have the rail- 
road for which it had waited so long. He and his friends, to 
use their own words, were "the recipients of a generous and 
thoughtful hospitality." Tiie coach containing them, after 
leaving Camp Douglas, where they had halted for refresh- 
ments, was met on the foot-hills by a reception committee, of 
which William H. Hooper was chairman. The visitors were 
conducted to the Salt Lake House, apartments having been 
prepared for them. They were the guests of the Citv during 
their stay.* 

The main incidents of the Colfax visit were: A speech 
by the future Vice President from the balcony of his hotel ; 
two interviews between him and President Brigham Young ; 
a trip to Rush Valley, to view the mining operations there; a 
bath in the Great Salt Lake ; a special performance at the 
Theatre; a Sunday service at the Bowery, with President 
Young as the speaker; and later in the da}-, at the same 
place an oration by Mr. Colfax on the life and principles 
of Abraham Lincoln. The first of the interviews took place at 
the Salt Lake House; the "Mormon" leader and his associates 



*Tn his l:)ook entitled "Across the Continent," published after his 
return to the East, Mr. Bowles refers to the experiences of himself 
and friends in Utah. "We find here," says he, "a great deal of true 
and good human nature and social culture; a great deal of business 
intelligence and activity; a great deal of generous hospitality — besides 
most excellent strawberries and green peas, and the most promising 
orchards of apricots, peaches, plums, and apples that these eyes ever 
beheld anywjiere." 



200 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

calling upon the party from the East. For the second and 
most important interview, which occurred on the 17th of June, 
the visitors came to the President's Office. 

The Polygamy Question. — At the beginning of the con- 
versation President Young inquired what the Government and 
the people in the East proposed to do with polygamy, now that 
they had got rid of the slavery question ; an inquiry probably 
suggested by the fact that the National Republican Party, 
which was then in power, had been pledged from its inception 
to the extirpation of "slavery and polygamy — twin relics of 
barbarism." Mr. Colfax replied that he had no authority to 
speak for the Government, but he hoped the leaders of the 
Church would themselves put a stop to the practice. As the 
people of Maryland and Missouri, believing slavery wrong and 
an impediment to their prosperity, had abolished it without 
waiting for the action of the General Government, so he hoped 
the Latter-day Saints would see that polygamy was a hin- 
drance, not a help, and move for its abandonment. President 
Young defended the plural-wife doctrine, but admitted that it 
had been abused by some who had entered into the practice. 
He maintained, however, that when rightly lived it was not 
only biblical, but had, within proper limits, a sound philosoph- 
ical reason and moral propriety. The discussion, according to 
Mr. Bowles, was "general and sharp, though very good- 
natured." Mr. Colfax and his friends stated in conclusion that 
they hoped the polygamy question would be removed from 
existence, in order that all objection to the admission of Utah 
as a State might be taken away. Until that time no such ad- 
mission was possible, and the Government could not continue 
to look indifferently upon the enlargement of so offensive a 
practice. 

Death of Governor Doty. — While the Colfax party was 
still in Utah. Governor Doty died — June 13th — and at the 
funeral two days later. Speaker Colfax and Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Bross were among the pall-bearers. The deceased was 
a native of the State of New York, but, as previously shown, 
had come to Utah from Wisconsin. He was in his sixty-sixth 
year when death summoned him. Governor Doty was sin- 
cerely mourned, for he was much beloved. The obsequies 
were held at the Executive residence, and the interment took 
place at Camp Douglas, whose chaplain. Air. McLeod, had 
officiated at the funeral. 

Another Congressional Visitor. — Another Congressman 
came to Utah that year — Honorable James M. Ashley, Chair- 
man of the House Committee on Territories. He arrived at 
Salt Lake Citv in time to i)artici|)ate in the celebration of the 



LATER IN THE SIXTIES. 201 

Fourth of July. George Q. Cannon was orator of the day, 
but Mr. Ashley also made an address, commending the work 
of the Pioneers and thanking the people for their patriotic 
demonstration. 

Ashley seemed to think that Utah had a future clouded 
with gloom. In an interview with George A. Smith and John 
Taylor, presiding respectively over the Council and the House 
of the Territorial Legislature, he stated that "the religious 
element ruled the country," that the clergy "had it their own 
way," and that the feeling against the "Mormon" Church was 
intensified throughout the Nation as never before. The onset 
might come at any time, and it would be terrible. Sherman's 
march through Georgia, with all its attendant horrors, might 
be duplicated in Utah by an army made up of the refuse of 
those very troops. Such was the substance of the Congress- 
man's forecast. The men whom he addressed were not dis- 
mayed by these pessimistic forebodings. Armies had come 
and gone, leaving Utah and her people unscathed ; and it would 
be so in the future. President Young declared as much to Mr. 
Ashley in an interview that followed. 

Hooper Again Delegate. — During the proceedings on In- 
dependence Day the name of William H. Hooper was again 
put forward for Delegate to Congress. He had previously 
been nominated, and was elected in the ensuing August. Cap- 
tain Hooper, like his predecessor. Judge Kinney, was tradi- 
tionally a Democrat.* 

Julia Dean Hayne. — The next notable arrival was from 
the West. In midsummer of that year the famous actress 
Julia Dean Hayne came with the Potter Dramatic TrOupe 
from California, by way of Montana and Idaho. She was re- 
turning to New York, her former home, after an absence of 
several years, but tarried in Utah for an extended engagement 
at the Salt Lake Theatre ; an engagement opening with the 
play of "Camille," on the evening of August 11th. Mrs. 



*Ashley and Hooper were destined to meet again. The former 
introduced a bill into Congress "to extend the boundaries of the States 
of Nevada, Minnesota and Nebraska, and the Territories of Colorado, 
Montana and Wyoming" — in other words, to partition Utah among 
the neighboring commonwealths. Delegate Hooper, in a speech de- 
livered on the floor of the House, February 25, 1869, gave the measure 
its death blow. 

Judge Kinney, at the close of his Congressional career, returned 
to his eastern home. Subsequently he removed to San Diego. Cali- 
fornia, and again came to Utah in 1897, as a delegate to the Trans- 
Mississippi Congress. Two years later he settled at Salt Lake City, 
where he died August 16, 1902. 



202 W 11I'IXI':\"S I'( )|'ll..\l< IIISTOKV OF UTAH. 




JULIA DEAN HAYXE. 



Hayne's renown as an artiste 
was national, but in no part of 
the land was she more admired 
or more esteemed than in Utah. 
While here she married again, 
having separated from Mr. 
Hayne in California. Her sec- 
ond husband was James G. 
Cooper. On the occasion of her 
farewell, June 30, 1866, in a 
pretty speech from the stage 
she thanked President Young 
"for many courtesies to a 
stranger, lone and unprotect- 
ed," and in the name of her art 
expressed her high appreciation 
of the order and beauty that 
reigned throughout that house. 
"I would that the same purity 
prevailed in every temple for 
the drama's teachings," said 
the great actress in conclu- 
sion.* 




SALT LAKE THEATRE. 



*Salt Lake's famous old playhouse was then in its infancy. Begun 
in July, 1861, it was completed, and the first performance given there 
March 8, 1862. The players were the Deseret Dramatic Association — 
Hiram B. Clawson manager, John T. Caine stage manager. The 
plays ]iresented were '"The Pride of the Market" and "State Secrets." 



LATKK IN THE SIXTIES. 



203 



Governor Durkee. — Charles Durkec, the sixth Governor 
of Utah, arrived at Salt Lake City in September. Like Gov- 
ernor Doty he was from Wisconsin, and like him won the 
respect and love of the people 
whom he had been sent to gov- 
ern. With him came Colonel 
Franklin H. Head, who suc- 
ceeded Colonel O. H. Irish as 
Superintendent of Indian Af- 
fairs. Colonel Irish and Col- 
onel Head were both efficient 
officers. The former was so 
well thought of that an effort 
had been made from Utah, both 
by "Mormons" and "Gentiles," 
to secure for him the office of 
Governor. This, however, was 
before Durkee's appointment. 

Indian Treaties, — In June, 
1865, pursuant to an act of Con- 
gress extinguishing the Indian 
title to certain lands, Superin-. 
tendent Irish, aided by the in- 
fluence and presence of Ex- 
Governor Young and other 
prominent citizens, made a 
treaty with fifteen chiefs at the Spanish Fork Reservation 
Farm. Among those present were Chiefs Kanosh, Sowiette, 
Sanpitch, and Tabby. Dimick B. Huntington and George W. 
Bean acted as interpreters. The Indians promised to move 
within a year to Uintah A^alley. gi\'ing up the lands the\- then 




GOVERNOR DURKEE. 



Doors opened at six p. m. and performance began at seven: admission 
to parquet and first and second balconies, seventy-five cents; third 
circle, fifty cents. During the first season home talent held the l)oards 
exclusively, but dramatic stars from abroad soon began to appear. 
The earliest was the stately tragedian Thomas A. Lyne, w^ho had 
played before "Mormon" audiences at Nauvoo. Then came the ver- 
satile Irwins (Mr. and Mrs. Selden M.), and the polished Englisli 
actor, George Pauncefort — all before the advent of the magnificent 
Julia Dean Hayne. Mrs. Hayne was first supported by George R. 
Waldron and the Potter Troupe, and subsequently by the Deseret 
Dramatic Association. The Salt Lake Theatre was built and owned 
by Brigham Young; William H. Folsom being the architect and 
superintendent of construction. The original cost was over one hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Editor Bowles (already quoted) praised this 
playhouse as "'a rare triumph of art and enterprise," and declared that 
"no eastern city of one hundred thousand inhabitants" (Salt T.akc 
then having less than twenty thousand) possessed "so fine a theatrical 
structure." 



204 WHITNEY'S POPL'LAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

occupied. They agreed to be peaceable, to cultivate the reser- 
vation lands, and send their children to the schools established 
for them. The Government in return promised to protect 
them, to furnish them with homes and employment, to pay 
yearly sums to the principal chiefs, and to distribute annually 
among^ the tribes twenty-five thousand dollars for ten years, 
twenty thousand for the next twenty years, and fifteen thous- 
and for thirty years thereafter. The Indians were permitted 
to hunt, dig roots, and gather berries on all unoccupied lands, 
and to fish in their accustomed places. All the chiefs named 
signed the agreement. About the middle of September 
Colonel Irish concluded a similar treaty with the Piede Indians 
in Washington County, and later Colonel Head rendered like 
service with other tribes. 

The Black Hawk War. — The Spanish Fork treaty was 
made during the progress of an Indian war, the most serious 
affair of its kind that took place between savages and settlers 
in Utah. The leader of the hostiles was a chief named Black 
Hawk, most of whose followers were renegade Utes. Chief 
Sanpitch, violating his pledge of peace, which had been given 
reluctantly, joined the marauders and lost his life during one 
of their raids. The Black Hawk War — for so it was called — 
began in April, 1865. As usual, with such events, it grew out 
of a slight cause. The provocation was given at Manti, where 
one of the citizens, in a spirit of bravado, roughly pulled an 
Indian off his horse. This Indian was a son of the Ute chief 
A^rapeen, who had recently died. The insult was made the 
pretext for a series of raids upon cattle herds in Sanpete, Sevier 
and other counties. Then followed a fierce conflict in which 
rifle and torch were employed destructively. 

Militia Service and Fatalities.- — The brunt of the strife was 
borne by the settlers in the ravaged districts, and by militia- 
men who came to their assistance from other parts. Regular 
military aid, requested from General Connor, and afterwards 
from his successor. Colonel Carroll H. Potter, was refused ; 
the Camp Douglas troops being "wanted elsewhere." The 
citizen soldiers, to the number of several hundred, served with 
courage, energy and fidelity, some giving their lives for the 
common defense. The first victim of savage ferocity was 
Peter Ludvigsen, of Manti, who was conducting a recon- 
noisance at Twelve-Mile Creek, a few days after the beginning 
of the trouble, when he was shot by Indians in ambush. At 
the same place, in June, 1867, a similar fate befell Major John 
W. Vance and Sergeant Heber Houtz, the former from Alpine, 
Utah County, and the latter from Salt Fake City. Another 
tragedy of the period was the murder (^f Dr. J. M. Whitmore 



LATER IN THE SIXTIES. 205 

and Robert Mclntyre, of St. Gcori^c, wlio were killed by In- 
dians at Pipe Springs Ranch, Arizona, in January, 1866. 

Among those who took the field or directed military op- 
erations at that time, were Generals Daniel H. Wells and 
Robert T. Burton, Colonels John R. Winder and Heber P. 
Kimball, of Salt Lake City; also Brigadier Generals Warren 
Snow, William D. Pace and Erastus Snow, of Sanpete, Utah 
and Washington counties, respectively. Southern Utah had 
its own troubles, but each of the counties in that part sent aid 
into Sanpete and Sevier. Assistance also came from Davis 
County. 

Expense and Losses. — During the war about seventy 
white people were killed and a great amount of property was 
destroyed. Six flourishing settlements in Sevier and Piute 
counties,* four in Sanpete County, fifteen in Iron, Kane, and 
Washington counties, and two or three in Wasatch County, 
had to be abandoned, with an almost total loss of stock and 
improvements. The expense and losses, aggregating one and 
a half million dollars, were borne by the people of Utah, in- 
stead of by the General Government, as usual in such cases. 
l"he financial statement, prepared by Colonel Winder and pre- 
sented by Adjutant General H. B. Clawson, was approved by 
Governor Durkee as a just claim upon the National Treasury; 
but Congress refused to appropriate any part of the amount. 
Since those days, however, — days of prejudice and misunder- 
standing, — many of Utah's Indian War veterans have been 
pensioned by the Government. 

The Deseret Telegraph, — While the Black Hawk War was 
in progress, the Deseret Telegraph Line was established and 
extended through Northern, Central and Southern Utah. The 
first circuit was from Logan to St. George, with a branch line 
to Sanpete Valley. There and in other places the militia on 
guard rendered efficient aid in putting up poles, stringing 
wires, and building stations. The Telegraph was of great ser- 
vice to the troops, and, strange to say, was not molested by 
the red men, who were either ignorant of the uses of the 
electric wire, or too superstitious to interfere with the light- 
ning messenger. 

President Young had led out in the establishment of this 
important enterprise. A call, issued by him to leading men 
throughout the Territory in November, 1865, met with a hearty 
response. The line was surveyed, the work of hauling poles 



*The first settlement in Sevier County (Richfield) was founded in 
1863, by Albert Lewis and others from Manti; and the first in Piute 
County (Circleville) in 1864, by William J. Alfred and a number of 
families from Ephraim. 



2U() \\iiri'\'i-:vs I'oi'ii.Ak iiisioin' of u'I'aii. 



from the canyon liCi^un, nionc}- for the purchase of wire and 
other materials collected and sent East, and in the autumn of 
1866 the wagons containing^ the freight arrived in charge of 
Captain Ilorton D. Haight. On the first of December the line 
was opened between Salt Lake City and Ogden ; and within 
six weeks five hundred miles of wire had been strung, the cost 
of construction being one hundred and fifty dollars a mile. 
Tlie line was extended until it embraced all the Utah mining 
camps, reached into Idaho, and connected St. George with 
Pioche, Nevada.* 

"The Great Half-way Place." — Brigadier General O. E. 
Babcock, U. S. A., after inspecting, by order of the War De- 
partment, the military posts of 
the West, reported to Secretary 
Stanton, in October, 1866, that 
Salt Lake City, "from its cen- 
tral locality in the heart of the 
great mountain district, with a 
line of telegraph east to the At- 
lantic and west to the Pacific, 
also one running north and 
south through the Territory ; 
its lines of stages to the Mis- 
souri River and the Pacific, to 
Idaho and the Columbia River, 
to Montana and the Pahranagat 
Mines;" was "the great half- 
way place across the conti- 
nent." He described Fort Brid- 
ger, which had been rebuilt as a 
Government post in the midst 
of a reservation twenty-five 
miles square, as in "a shameful 
condition — grounds not policed, 
buildings out of order, flooring- 
burned up, bridges burned, and shade trees broken down." 
Camp Douglas, on the contrary, was "in neat condition, with 
a garrison of some three hundred and fifty men." 

"Gentile" Activities.- — Major General Hazen was in Utah 
during the same autumn. He reported that the "Gentiles" 
then residing at Salt Lake City numbered about three hun- 



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1 




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m 




^T >*' 


m 




Hl^bv 


m 






p£ ^^g 






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J 



BISHOP TUTTLE. 



*Brigham Young was president of the Deseret Telegraph Com- 
pany. A. Milton ]\[usser was its superintendent and manager. A school 
of telegraphy, taught by John Clowes at Salt Lake City, was attended 
by students from other settlements. One of these was Anthon H. 
Lund, then a citizen of Mt. Pleasant. President Lund was one of the 
original operators on the first circuit. 



LA'i'iiK IN riii<: sixriKS. 207 

(Ired. They wert; "nearly all traders," and had "established a 
clnireh, a newspaper, and a sehool." The newspaper, of course, 
was the Union Vedette; and the church, that of the Congrej^a- 
tionalists, who had begun to hold meetings at Salt Lake City 
early in 1865. Their minister was Chaplain McLeod. Prior 
to tiiat time, the only religious body in the Territory, barring 
a few dissenting "Mormon" factions, such as the "Morrisites" 
and the "Gladdenites," was the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints. The Congregational Society built Inde- 
pendence Hall, at the intersection of Main and Third South 
Streets. Two years later the Episcopal Church made a mis- 
sionary district of Utah, Idaho and Montana, and placed 
Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle in charge of the diocese. Bishop Tut- 
tle held his first service in Independence Hall. 

"Mormons" and Anti-"Mormons." — The unfriendly feel- 
ing between the first settlers of Utah and a certain portion 
of the non-"Mormon" element that came among them, — a 
feeling that had been growing from the time of the 
fdrmation of the Territory — was increased and intensified, 
about midway of the "sixties," l)y two shocking crimes, both 
committed at Salt Lake City. Of a nature to stir the com- 
munity under the most ordinary conditions, these deplorable 
events were productive of more than usual excitement, owing 
to their supposed connection, in some minds, with the alleged 
policy on the part of the "Mormons," to drive the "Gen- 
tiles" out of Utah, and discourage any of that class from mak- 
ing homes here. Of course there never was such a policy. 
Every "Gentile" comer into the community was a hoped for 
convert to "Mormonism," which continually sent out missit)n- 
aries, as it does today, with a view to drawing the "Gentiles" 
Zionward. A compelled "(ientile" exodus was never dreamed 
of by the "Mormon" people. But this fact did not prevent the 
fiction from obtaining credence in certain quarters, and con- 
siderable ill feeling was the result. The crimes referred to 
took place, one in the spring, the other in the autumn, of 
1866. Thev are known as the Brassfield and Robinson mur- 
ders. 

The Brassfield Affair, — S. Newton Brassfield, a freighter 
from Austin, Nevada, while doing business at Salt Lake City, 
induced Mrs. Mary Emma Hill, the plural wife of a "Mormon" 
missionary then in Europe, to abandon her spouse and accept 
him (Brassfield) as her husband. The ceremony uniting them 
was performed by Judge Solomon P. McCurdy. formerly of 
Missouri, but at that time an Associate Justice of Utah. Legal 
proceedings to secure the woman's children and household 
property were pending, when, in the twilight of an April 
ex'cning. as Brassfield was about entering his boarding house. 



208 WHITNEY'S i'OPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

a little east of "Godbe's Corner," he was fatally shot by an un- 
known assailant, who fired from a neighboring alley. Brass- 
field was walking in company with United States Marshal J. K. 
Hosmer. There was no clue to the doer of the deed, though 
suspicion naturally pointed to some relative or friend of the 
absent husband. 

General Sherman's Telegram. — As in the case of other 
crimes committed by individuals in Utah, an efifort was made 
to place the blame for this homicide upon the "Mormon" com- 
munity. Exaggerated reports were sent out, and as a result 
General William T. Sherman, then commanding the Depart- 
ment of the Plains, with headquarters at St. Louis, wired to 
President Young, stating that a telegram from "responsible 
officers" informed him that four "Gentiles" had been murdered 
by "Mormons," and that further danger was apprehended from 
this class. The General added that he was bound to give pro- 
tection to all citizens, and that all must have equal rights 
within the limits of the national domain. The murderers must 
be punished, and measures of intimidation, if resorted to, must 
cease. Sherman admitted that he knew little or nothing of the 
causes of trouble in this Territory, but went on to say that the 
country was full of tried and experienced soldiers who would 
be pleased to "avenge any wrongs committed against any 
yVmerican citizens even in remote Utah." He expressed the 
hope that he would receive reports upon which to base accurate 
opinions; and meanwhile this message was sent, "not as a 
threat, but as a caution that a sensible man should heed." The 
date of the telegram was the 10th of April. 

President Young's Reply. — President Young replied, 
thanking General Sherman for his communication, which 
afforded him an opportunity to state the facts. He informed 
the General that there had been no such assassinations as those 
mentioned in his communication. A soldier had shot a gen- 
tleman named Mayfield on March 17th, and a Mr. Brassfield, 
who had seduced a "Mormon's" wife, had been shot on the 
street by some unknown person. "But neither I nor the com- 
munity at large know any more about it than an inhabitant of 
St. Louis," said the President. He denied the intimidation 
charges, and declared that in Utah "Gentile" lives were as safe 
as "Mormon" lives, and that acts of violence were of rarer 
occurrence in Salt Lake City than in any other town of its size 
in any of the new States or Territories. He clinched this state- 
ment with another, to wit: "In no other communities could 
men pursue the course that many do here, without experiencing 
the vengeance of a vigilance committee. The outrageous slan- 
ders they have circulated against us would have provoked such 
an outbreak elsewhere." 



i.ATj':i< IX rill': six'iies. 209 

"Gentile" Confirmation. — Another telegram, signed by 
"Gentile" residents of Salt Lake City, gave a complete refuta- 
tion to the original charges. It certified that citizens of every 
class who simply attended to their own business, were as free 
from intimidation and as fully respected in their rights in this 
city, as in any other part of the United States. Among those 
who signed the telegram were the Walker Brothers, John B. 
Kimball, Nounnan, Orr and Company, and other leading busi- 
ness men. Colonel Head, Indian Superintendent, and several 
Camp Douglas ofiicers, also appended their signatures. 

General Sherman answered President Young in these 
words: "Your dispatch is received, and I am much gratified 
at its substance and spirit." This closed the incident. At the 
request of General Sherman, however. General Babcock, while 
making the tour of inspection referred to, spent several weeks 
in Utah, thoroughly acquainting himself with conditions in this 
Territory.* 

The Robinson Murder. — The excitement over the Brass- 
field homicide scarcely had time to die away, before the 
other killing took place. The date was the 22nd of October, 
and the victim. Dr. J. King Robinson, a former assistant sur- 
geon at Camp Douglas. Dr. Robinson had married a Utah 
girl, a daughter of Elder John Kay, and at the time of his death 
was practicing his profession at Salt Lake City. In the case 
of Brassfield it was generally felt that there had been a serious 
provocation, and that the Nevada freighter had done much to 
merit what had befallen him. But there was no such element 
of palliation in the Robinson case. The bloody deed shocked 
and horrified the whole community. All classes united in de- 
ploring it, and in denouncing its dastardly perpetrators. f 

The murder occurred a little before midnight. Summoned 
from his bed, ostensibly to care for a man with a broken limb, 
the surgeon was but a few rods from his residence, near Inde- 

*"A more quiet or peaceful communit}'," said General Babcock, in 
his report to the War Department, "I never passed four weeks with." 
He commended the people for their thrift and industry, and while of 
the opinion that the "Mormons" had looked upon the Government as 
their persecutor, and for that reason had felt little sympathy with it 
during the Civil War, he expressed the belief that had they been called 
upon for a quota of troops, it would have been filled with as much 
promptness as any call that was made. The report, having been sub- 
m.itted to Secretary Stanton, was laid before Congress in January, 1867. 

tSaid the Dcseret News: "There are acts which demand the ex- 
piation of blood, and this is one of them." That paper urged the 
officers to spare no efforts to bring the criminal or criminals to justice. 
President Young, in a public discourse, compared the murder of Dr. 
Robinson to the massacre at Haun's Mill, the assassination of Joseph 
and Hyrum Smith, and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He de- 
nounced it in unmeasured terms. 

13 



iiu \\iirr.\i{\'s i'( )i'iL.\i< MIS roKN' (jj<' utaii. 

pendence Hall, when lie was set upon b)- several persons who, 
after striking him on the head with some sharp instrument, put 
a bullet through his brain, and hastily fled, disappearing before 
anyone else could arrive upon the scene. The first comers saw 
a number of men running away, but darkness prevented recog- 
nition. Dr. Robinson, in a dying condition, was taken to his 
home, where he expired an hour afterwards. 

A Fruitless Investigation. — Rewards for the discovery and 
apprehension of the guilty parties were offered by the City, 
the County, and by various prominent citizens and business 
firms; President Young heading the list with an ofifer of five 
hundred dollars. The various amounts aggregated about ten 
thousand dollars. Then followed a searching investigation be- 
fore Coroner Jeter Clinton, assisted by Chief Justice Titus and 
Associate Justice McCurdy. The examination was conducted 
l)y County Prosecuting Attorney Seth M. Blair, associated with 
Major Charles H. Hempstead and City Attorney Hosea Stout. 
Ex-Governor John B. Weller, of California, was specially re- 
tained for the case, and Thomas Marshall, of the Utah Bar, 
also lent assistance. 

Governor Weller, following the usual "Anti-Mormon" 
course, endeavored to implicate the "Mormon" Church and the 
Salt Lake City Police Department. He cited, as a probable 
cause for the tragedy, certain litigation between Dr. Robinson 
and the municipal authorities. It is true that the Doctor had 
l)een involved in a legal contest with those authorities, for the 
possession of the Warm Springs property, a piece of ground 
built upon and owned by the City for many years, but claimed 
by the surgeon and a fellow practitioner as "unoccupied land," 
a portion of the public domain. They designed erecting a 
hospital there. Their claim to the property was based upon 
the alleged invalidity of the new City Charter, which they had 
been made to believe was defective because it did not appear 
from the Congressional records that the acts of the Utah Leg- 
islature for 1859-1860, containing the charter, had been sub- 
mitted to Congress, as required by the Organic Act. The liti- 
gation followed the removal, by the police, of a shanty and a 
fence which the two surgeons had caused to be built upon the 
land, in assertion of their claim. But the case went against 
them in the District Court; Chief Justice Titus, before whom it 
was tried, ruling in favor of the City. Three days later Dr. 
Robinson met his death.* 



*A bowling alley, owned by Dr. Robinson, and complained of as 
a place where gambling was carried on, and liquor sold contrary to 
law, had also been abated by the police; and it was alleged that the 
Mayor of the City, when the Doctor called upon him and threatened 
a snil for damages, had ordered him out of his house. 



LATER ii\ THE SEViiES. 211 

Judge Stout, replying- to Governor Weller, resented the 
imputation that the lit'igation over the Warm Springs, or any 
incident connected therewith, had led to the murder of the 
unfortunate man. He maintained that such a theory was not 
onlv unjust, but illogical and inconsistent, in view of the out- 
come of that litigation. He also defended the Church Author- 
ities against the aspersions cast upon them. As in the Brass- 
field affair, there was no clue to the identity of the assassins, 
and the coroner's jury, made up of "Mormons" and "Gentiles," 
rendered a verdict to that effect. 

President Young Calls for Proof.— The intimation that 
the Church leaders were responsible for this crime called forth 
a replv from President Young. In a public discourse (Decem- 
ber, 1866) he challenged production of proof that he was in any 
manner implicated, and clinched the challenge with this declar- 
ation : "If any man, woman or child that ever lived has said 
that Brigham Young ever counseled them to commit crime of 
any description, they are liars in the face of heaven." 

An Unsolved Mystery.— The slayers of Dr. Robinson were 
never discovered. Persons suspected of the murder were ar- 
rested, but nothing was proved against them. The motive for 
the crime was as much involved in mystery as the identity of 
its perpetrators. The charge against the Church — if it amount- 
ed to a charge — fell flat. Aside from all moral considerations, 
it was evident that the Church had nothing to gain by the death 
ui Dr. Robinson. Nor did it advantage in any way the City 
Authorities. The murder was a positive misfortune to the 
"Mormon" community. 

The Stenhouse Theory.— The author of "The Rocky 
Mountain Saints" (page 618) says: "It has always appeared 
to the author's mind that the Robinson murder was an acci- 
dent, and not premeditated. * * * It is very probable that 
the party attacking Dr. Robinson designed only to give him a 
beating and some rough usage. He was a young athletic man, 
and when he first discovered so many men of evil purpose he 
very likely became alarmed, and in seeking to disengage him- 
self from them, probably recognized some of them, and for their 
own protection and concealment the fatal violence was re- 
sorted to." 

Whether or not that theory be correct, this much is certain. 
It the guilty ones supposed that their act would be approved 
bv any class of people, they were doomed to disappointment. 
Like the murderers of Pompey, who vainly imagined that the 
great Caesar would reward them for slaying his already de- 
feated rival, they "reckoned without their host." The Egyiitian 



212 \\I1IT.\I:N S l'()l'l l,.\k IIISTORV tJl' UTAH. 

assassins were ordered away to instant execution : and by the 
same spirit of indig^nant justice the unknown murderers of Dr. 
Robinson have been pilloried for execration through all time. 

Cases of Land-Jumping. — Mr. Stenhouse, in connection 
with his theory of the homicide — a theory published after his 
defection from "Mormonism" — mentions various cases of land- 
jumping, which had caused the forcible ejectment of certain 
parties, some of whom had taken possession of the race course 
on the west side of the Jordan, while others had seized a choice 
piece of real estate on the east side, claiming them as "un- 
occupied lands." The would-be owners of the race course 
were thrown, with their shanty, into the river one night; and 
the squatters upon the other property — Lieutenant Brown and 
Dr. Williamson, formerly of the California Volunteers — saved 
themselves from similar treatment by promising to leave the 
country forthwith. Mr. Stenhouse does not assert who the 
attacking parties were, but leaves it to be inferred that they 
were men of the same stamp as those who assailed Dr. Rob- 
inson.* 

A Proposed "Gentile" Exodus. — As previously stated, the 
Brassiield and Robinson murders were supposed by some to 
indicate a settled policy on the part of the "Mormons," to dis- 
courage "Gentiles" from remaining in or coming to Utah. The 
fact that the Church Authorities were counseling their people 
to refrain from patronizing certain non-"Mormon" business 
l-.ouses, was pointed to as proof of the existence of such a 



*President Young believed these land-jumping operations were en- 
couraged, if not instigated, by certain lawyers who had recently taken 
up their abode in Utah. In letters to his sons Brigham Jr., and John 
W., who were in England at that time (1866), he refers to vexatious 
law suits and land seizures, and says: "Attempts have been made to 
'squat' upon our public squares, parade ground, race course, etc., and 
in the city these public places have been fenced to prevent 'squatters' 
from settling upon them." In a discourse delivered the same year, 
the President said: "We wish our friends to come here, and par- 
ticipate with us in the good things the Lord has provided for his 
people; but we do not want contention." 

Then followed strictures on a certain class of lawyers and their 
strife-breeding methods, after which this comment: "If you [the new 
comers] undertake to drive a stake in my garden, with an intention to 
jump my claim, there will be a light before you get it. * * * You 
can occupy and build wherever you please, but let our claims alone. 
We have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in taking out the 
waters of the mountain streams, fencing in farms, and improving the 
country, and we cannot tamely suffer strangers, who have not spent 
one day's labor to make these improvements, to wrest our homesteads 
out of our hands." The Union Vedette defended the seizure of certain 
lands owned by the City, on the plea that they were not occupied or 
put to use by those who held them. 



LAl'Ek JN THE SIXTIKS. 213 

policy. In a communication addressed to the "Mormon" lead- 
ers (December, 1866) twenty-three "Gentile" merchants offered 
to leave the Territory, on condition that the Church would 
guarantee the payment of their outstanding- accounts, and the 
purchase of their merchandise, chattels, houses, and improve- 
ments, at a cash valuation, after a deduction of twenty-five per 
cent had been made. 

President Young declined to enter into any such agree- 
ment. Answering the communication, he stated that its signers 
were at liberty to go or stay, just as they pleased. He denied 
using coercion or intimidation to induce his people to trade or 
iiot trade with any person or class, but asserted his right anrl 
theirs to patronize the business houses they preferred. The 
President made it plain that the proposed boycott was not 
against the "Gentiles" as "Gentiles," nor against non-" Mor- 
mon" business men in general ; but only against a certain class 
— those believed by him to be in league against the Latter-dav 
Saints. Strife-breeders, law-breakers, and those who encour- 
aged them in their arrogant disregard of the rights of the older 
settlers who had pioneered the country and made it possible for 
later comers to live here ; it was against such persons that the 
"Mormon" leader leveled the boycott of 1865-1866.* 

Another Grasshopper Scourge. — During the year 1867 
there was another grasshopper visitation. The locusts came 
in countless swarms, so dense as to almost darken the sun. 
With relentless appetite they settled down upon ripening fields, 
budding orchards, and green meadows, stripping the trees of 
leaves, eating the tender bark of twigs, and even devouring 
each other. To the depth of an inch or more, they carpeted 
the streets, sidewalks, and door-yards, biting savagelv what- 



*"To be adverse to Gentiles because they are Gentiles, or to Jews 
because they are Jews," said President Young, "is in direct opposition 
to the genius of our religion. There is a class, however, doing busi- 
ness in this Territory, who for years have been the avowed enemies 
of this community. * * * While soliciting the patronage of the 
people and deriving their support from them, they Jiave in the most 
shameless and abandoned manner used the means thus obtained to 
destroy the very people w-hose favor they found it to their interest to 
court." He charged this class with encouraging violations of law, and 
with fostering vicious institutions: with giving publicity to atrocious 
libels respecting the old citizens: with refusing to pay their taxes or 
give support to schools as required by law; and with entering into 
secret combinations to resist the laws and thwart their healthy opera- 
tion. "What claim," said he, "can such persons have upon the patron- 
age of this community? And what community on earth would be so 
besotted as to uphold and foster men whose aim is to destroy them]^ 
* * * Tt is to these men whom I have described, and to these alone, 
that I am ojiposed, and T am determined to use my inlluence to have 
the citizens here stop dealing with them, and deal with honorable 
men." 



214 \\iirr.\i':vs poi-lla 



IS r(JRV OF UTAH. 



whatever they chanced to light upon. Human beings were 
not exempt from attack. Great damage was done by them to 
crops and vegetation throughout the Territory.* 

A Notable Conference. — The General Conference of the 




SALT LAKE TABERNACLE. 

Showing tlie historic Endowment Houfe in the right hand corner of the Temple 

Block, with the homes of Orson Hyde (right) and Albert 

Carrington (left) in the foreground. 

Latter-day Saints in October, 1867, was notable for the calling 
of a large number of missionaries, to go with their families and 
strengthen the southern settlements. Another feature of the 
occasion was the calling of Joseph F. Smith into the Council 
of the Twelve, to fill a vacancy caused by the defection of 
Amasa M. Lyman. Elder Smith is now President Smith, 
holding the highest office in the Church. These proceedings 
took place in the great Tabernacle, which, begun in July. 1864, 
was all but completed when this conference convened. 

Tabernacle and Organ. — The "Mormon" Tabernacle at 
Salt Lake City is one of the notable buildings of America. It 
is a vast elliptical dome, resting upon forty-four buttresses of 
solid masonry. Twenty large dou1)le doors, opening outward, 
afiford speedy egress from the building, which is 250 feet long. 
150 feet wide, and 80 feet high. The concave ceiling, seventy 



*This visitation was one of a series extending through successive 
years, during which the people waged organized warfare upon the 
locusts. Tn 1869 only Cache, Iron, Washington and Kane counties 
suffered severely; other parts escaping tlie scourge and gathering 
abundant harvests. 



LATER IN THE SIXTIES. 215 

feet from the floor, is arched without u piUar. Tlie seating 
eapacity is seven nv eiiilit thousand, but ten thousand persons 
can crowd into the interior, which has a horse-shoe gallery ter- 
minating at the choir in front of the great organ. The acous- 
tics are a marvel ; a pin dropped at one end of the hall can be 
heard distinctly at the other end, over two hundred feet away. 
The Tabernacle Organ, when built, was the largest pipe organ 
in America. In some respects — variety of construction and the 
massing of tonal qualities — it is still conceded to be one of the 
greatest instruments of its kind in existence.* 



*The Tabernacle Organ was designed and built b}' Joseph Ridgo, 
of Salt Lake City, and was constructed of native timber. L has since 
been enlarged and improved. The Tabernacle was designed in a gen- 
er.il way by President Brigham Ydung, but under him Henry Grow 
was the architect and superintcndcnl nf construction. 



XIX. 
THE RAILROAD AND WHAT CAME WITH IT. 

1868-1871. 

The Iron Horse Approaching. — The all-prevailing topic 
at the time now touched in this narrative, was the coming of 
the railroad. Since January, 1863, the great iron highway, 
which was destined to work so many changes in the West, 
had been in course of construction, and was rapidly approach- 
ing from two directions the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. 
Utah, joining California and the East, was about to take hold 
of the mighty enterprise, and help it across the borders of her 
mountain-girt domain. 

The Act of Congress authorizing the Pacific Railroad had 
been signed by President Lincoln on the 1st of July, 1862. The 
Government of the United States proposed by this legislation 
to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from 
the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and secure to itself 
the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes. 
The assistance offered to the builders of the road was a loan of 
Federal bonds for thirty years, and a gift of tAventy million 
acres of land. Each bond was for a thousand dollars, and six- 
teen bonds were to be lent for each mile completed. The land 
to be given was on each side of the proposed railroad. Sub- 
sequently Congress offered still greater inducements, and 
enough private capital was finally invested to carry forward 
the titanic work.* 



*A railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific had been discussed 
early in the Nineteenth Century, but not until about the middle of 
that period was any practical scheme for its construction put forward. 
Asa Whitney, in a series of popular meetings and in addresses to State 
Legislatures, agitated the question from 1844 to 1850. By that time 
there were railroads reaching almost as far west as the Mississippi 
River. The idea was to have one start from Prairie due Chien, and 
cross the Rocky Mountains at South Pass, extending on to Van- 
couver Sound, with a branch running to San Francisco. It was to 
be built by the sale of public lands along the proposed line, and for 
that purpose, Whitney asked from Congress a free grant of alternate 
sections, for a widtli of thirty miles on each side. As already related, 
Brigham Young, at the head of the "Mormon" Pioneers, while as- 
cending the Platte River in 1847, marked out a future route for the 
trans-continental railroad, a route now covered by much of the track 
of the Union Pacific. Three years after the Pioneers crossed the 
plains, Senator Thomas Benton, of Missouri, introduced into Congress 
Iiis Pacific Railroad Bill. In March, 1852, the Governor and Logis- 



Till': RAf[.R().\l) AND WHAT CAMK WITH IT. 217 

Union Pacific and Central Pacific. — The Act of 1862 cre- 
ated the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which built the line 
westward from Omaha ; that point having been designated 
by President Lincoln as the eastern terminus of the great 
highway. The Central Pacific Railroad Company, which was al- 
ready in existence, constructed the western division and shared 
in the advantages of the Government contract. This com- 
pany had been organized in 1861, under a general law of the 
State of California. 

At Sacramento, on January 8, 1863, and at Omaha, on 
December 2nd of the same year, ground was broken for the 
gigantic enterprise. Later there was some discouragement and 
delay, but after the increase of the subsidy granted by the 
Government the work made rapid strides to completion. Prob- 
ably twenty-five thousand men, with six thousand teams, 
were employed on the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines, 
as they advanced to meet each other on the shores of "Amer- 
ica's Dead Sea." 

Stupendous efforts were put forth by the competing com- 
panies to determine how far east or west of the Great Salt 
Lake each would be able to extend its track before meeting 
that of the rival road ; the aim being, of course, to secure as 
large a share as possible of the Government subsidy. It 
therefore became an object to secure assistance from the peo- 
ple of Utah. The question as to whether the railroad would 
pass north or south of the Lake was also an important one, 
especially to Salt Lake City. Here, on the 10th of June, 
1868. a mass meeting was held in the big Tabernacle, with a 
view to influencing the choice of the southern route and the 
building of the line through the Territorial capital. The de- 
cision of the engineers, however, was in favor of the northern 
route, and the railroad went that way. 

Utah Contracts and Contractors. — President Young, who 
was a stockholder in the Union Pacific Company, accepted 
from its Superintendent of Construction a contract to grade 
ninety miles of road from the head of Echo Canyon westward. 
Three of the President's sons — Joseph A., Brigham, Jr., and 
John W. — acted as his agents in letting the sub-contracts. 



lature of the Territory of Utah petitioned Congress for the construc- 
tion of such a road. During 1853-1854 as many as nine railroad routes 
were surveyed across the continent, one of them by the ill-fated 
Captain Gunnison. These surveys were authorized by the Federal 
Government. The National Conventions of the Democratic and Re- 
publican parties, in 1856 and 1860. referred to the Pacific Railroad 
in their platforms, and Presidents Pierce, Buchanan and Lincoln all 
nientioiu'd it in their messages to Congicss. 



218 WIllTNKV'S L'Ul'lLAK lilSl'URV Ui- ITAll. 




The main contractors under Brigfham Young- were ^ John 

Sharp and Joseph A. Young, 
who employed five or six hun- 
dred men on the heavy stone 
work and tunnels of Weber 
Canyon. 

Eastward from Echo Can- 
yon a large contract was taken 
by Joseph F. Nounnan and as- 
sociates. Mr. Nounnan was a 
"Gentile" banker at Salt Eake 
City. From him the Kimball 
Brothers, David and Heber, and 
W. Riley Judd, took sub-con- 
tracts and built parts of the 
grade along Sulphur Creek, 
Yellow Creek, and Bear River. 
The writer of this History, 
then a lad of thirteen, worked 
for his uncle, David P. Kimball. 
I m one of those sub-con- 
tracts. 

The one great Central Pa- 
cific contract taken by Utah 
men, was that of Ezra T. Benson, Lorin Farr, and Chauncey 
W. West, who constructed the road-bed from near Humboldt 
Wells, Nevada, into Ogden City, a distance of two hundred 
miles. Fifty-three miles of their work — the part extending 
from Promontory to Ogden — was never used, owing to the 
fact that the Union Pacific reached Ogden first and pushed 
on to Promontory, paralleling the Central Pacific between 
those points. When Ogden became, by Act of Congress, the 
joint terminus, the Central Pacific purchased from the 
Union Pacific its section of track, and abandoned the super- 
fluous grade built by itself. 

The Arrival at Ogden. — The arrival of the railroad at 
Ogden, March 8, 1869, caused a general jubilation. Tt was 
about half past eleven a. m. when the Union Pacific track- 
layers came in sight of the town, whose excited inhabitants, 
from every house-top or other commanding elevation, feasted 
their eyes upon the long-looked-for "fiery steed." On it came, 
the workmen in front, putting down the rails, and the loco- 
motives steaming up behind as fast as the iron path was pre- 
pared for them. Three hours later the city was reached, and 
there, amid raising (^f flags, music of bands, shouts of the peo- 
ple, and thunder of artillery, the advent of the railroad was 
celebrated with joyful enthusiasm. "Hail to the Highway 



JOHN SHARP. 



Till-: RAILROAD A\l) W HAT CAAIF^ WJiJl IT. 219 

of Nations! Utali bids you welcome!" was one of the mot- 
toes conspicuously displayed in the official and popular gath- 
ering tiiat greeted the arrixal of "The Iron Horse." 

The Meeting at Promontory. — The greater event of the 
meeting of the two roads was reserved for Monday, the 10th 
of May. At Promontory Summit, on the northern shore of 
the Great Salt Lake, 690 miles east of Sacramento, and 1086 
miles west from Omaha, the last rail was laid, the last spike 
driven, and both tracks were welded into one. A junction had 
been effected a short time before, but the laying of two rails 
had been left for the final proceedings. Trains from both 
East and West brought leading railroad men and newspaper 
representatives from all parts of the country, and by noon 
eleven hundred people had assembled at Promontory. The 
Chinese laborers on the western division having with picks and 
shovels leveled the road-bed, the last ties and rails were 
put in place — all but one rail. Union Pacific locomotive Num- 
ber 119, and Central Pacific locomotive "Jupiter," then moved 
up face to face, within thirty feet of each other, and all was 
ready for the closing scene of this memorable act in the 
mighty drama of modern development. 

Edgar Mills, of Sacramento, read the program of cere- 
monies, and Reverend Dr. Todd, who was from Massachusetts, 
offered the dedicatory prayer. Then came the presentation 
of spikes — one of gold from California, one of silver from Ne- 
vada, and one of iron, silver and gold from Arizona; all pre- 
sented, with suitable speeches, to Governor Leland Stanford. 
President of the Central Pacific Railroad. He received the 
gifts in behalf of both companies, and responded >vith an ap- 
propriate address; after which General Superintendent G. M. 
Dodge spoke briefly, representing the Union Pacific Railroad. 

The Last Spike Driven. — -The last tie upon which the 
rails of the two roads met was put in position by the Super- 
intendents of "Construction, S. B. Reed of the Union Pacific, 
and J. H. Strowbridge of the Central Pacific. This tie was of 
California laurel, beautifully polished, and ornamented with 
a silver plate bearing the names of the officers and directors 
of the Central Pacific Company. The gold spike used in the 
ceremony was seven inches long, and had been made from 
twenty-three twenty-dollar gold pieces, the gift of David H. 
Herves, of San Francisco. Of course, none of these valuable 
spikes went into the road. They were preserved as relics, 
like the silver-plated tie, which was removed as soon as 
laid, and an ordinary tie substituted. Tt was now half past 
twelve, and at a given signal Governor Stanford and Dr. T. 
C. Duraiil. a LTninn Pacific notable, struck the spikes and 
drove them home. 



220 \\IUT.\1-:\"S I'Ol'lLAR lllSTUKV UF UTAH. 

An Electrical Proclamation. — -Telegraphic connection had 
been made in such a way that these blows were sent vibrating" 
along the wires to every telegraph office between the Atlantic 
and the Pacific, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mex- 
ico. This was done by attaching the wires to the spike mauls, 
every blow from which announced itself as it fell. At San 
Francisco the wires were connected with the fire alarm in the 
Tower, and at Washington with the bell of the Capitol ; so 
that the strokes of the silver sledge were not only heard 
throughout the land, but were sent ringing down the Potomac, 
and out through the Golden Gate, proclaiming the joyful news 
of the marriage of the oceans. The same electric flash caused 
the discharge of heavy guns from the batteries of San Fran- 
cisco. 

Salt Lake City received the tidings at thirty-two minutes 
past twelve. Instantly the Stars and Stripes were unfurled, 
brass and martial 1:)ands struck up lively airs, and artillery 
salutes were fired from Arsenal Hill and from the vicinity 







, ,*f 




li'i: £1 





EAST AND WEST SHAKE HANDS. 

of the City Hall and the County Court House.* A half holi- 
day of general rejoicing followed. All towns reached by the 
Deseret Telegraph were notified in like manner. 

*Arsenal Hill, so named for the old militia arsenal that once 
stood there, was near the head of Main .Street, the principal thor- 
on^hfare of Salt T.ake Cit\', and a little west nf (ho i)rcsent State 
Capitol. The nld City TTall lia^ liertnur llie I'ulice ne])artment. and 
the old Conntv Conrt Ilonse has qixen \va\- to the present Conntv 
Jail. 



'II II-: k.\ILK( )A1) AX!) WHAT CAM !•: WITH IT. 221 

East and West Shake Hands. — No sooner was the last 
spike driven, than the pent-up feelings of the multitude wit- 
nessing the ceremony burst forth in thunderous hurrahs. 
Three cheers were given for the Government of the United 
States, three for the Pacific Railroad, three for the Presidents, 
three for the Star-Spangled Banner, three for the laborers, 
and three for those who had furnished the means to build 
the road. Official announcement of its completion was tele- 
graphed to President Ulysses S. Grant, and to the Associated 
Press. At the conclusion of proceedings the two locomotives 
moved forward until they touched each other, and a bottle 
of wine was poured as a libation on the last rail. The Pacific 
Railroad was completed ! 

The Utah Central and Other Local Lines.— President 
Young, being in Southern Utah at the time, did not attend 
the celebration at Promontory. The same month, however, 
saw the beginning, under his direction, of the first local rail- 
road, "The Utah Central," uniting Salt Lake City and Ogden. 
At the Tabernacle mass meeting, in June, 1868, the "Mor- 
mon" leader had said: "If the company that first arrives 
should deem it to their advantage to leave us out in the cold, 
we will not be so far off but we can have a branch line for 
the advantage of this city." When, therefore, it became evi- 
dent that the main road would not pass through the principal 
town of the Territory, he proceeded to make good his prom- 
ise respecting a branch line. The Utah Central Railroad Com- 
pany was organized on the very day that the Union Pacific 
track reached Ogden. Its organizers were Brigham Young. 
Joseph A. Young, George Q. Cannon, Daniel H. Wells, Chris- 
topher Layton, Briant Stringham, David P. Kimball, Isaac 
Groo, David O. Calder, George A. Smith, John Sharp, Brig- 
ham Young, Jr., John W. Young, William Jennings, Fera- 
morz Little and James T. Little ; all of Salt Lake City except 
Mr. Layton, who lived at Kaysville. Ground was broken at 
Ogden, May 17, 1869, President Young removing the first 
sod ; and the last spike was driven by him at Salt Lake Citv, 
January 10, 1870. 

This road was built literally by the people. No large 
contracts were let, and those who constructed the road took 
stock in it for part of their remuneration. Colonel Carr, a 
Union Pacific officer who was present at the Janua'ry celebra- 
tion, referred to the Utah Central as "perhaps the only railroad 
west of the Missouri River that had been built entirely with- 
out Government subsidies." In all probability it would not 
have been built so early, had the Union Pacific Company 
been able to pay its Utah contractors more promptly. At 
the final settlement, which was delayed by lack of funds, the 
contractors accepted, in lieu of the same amount in cash, six 



222 \\lll'r.\'l<:VS roL'ULAK HJSTORY Ui< UTAH. 



hundred thousand dollars worth of rails, locomotives, cars 
and other rolling stock. All this property went into the home 
road, hastening its construction and equipment. 

Joseph A. Young-. Superintendent of the Utah Central 
Railroad, in his speech at the driving of the last spike, invited 
East, West, North and South to come up to Utah and learn 
of her ways. "The more our actions and works as a people 
are investigated," said he, "the higher we stand in the esti- 
mation of those whose good opinion is worth having." He 
expressed the hope that the last spike of this road would be 
the first of the next, extending on to "the cotton country"- — 
Southern Utah— and that he would live to see the day when 
everv nook and corner of the Territory capable of sustaining 

human beings, would be settled 
by good, honest, hard-working 
people, and penetrated by rail- 
roads. 

The Echo and Coalville 
Railroad came next. It was 
begun in October, 1869, and 
pushed rapidly to completion. 
By the time the Utah Central 
reached Salt Lake City, coal 
from the Weber mines could be 
shipped by rail directly to the 
capital. Then came the Utah 
Southern, connecting Salt Lake 
with Provo and eventually with 
Frisco; followed by the Utah 
Northern, a narrow gauge line 
from Ogden through Weber, 
Box Elder and Cache counties; 
a branch of it joining Brigham 
City atjd Corinne, the latter a 
new Central Pacific town a few 
miles above the mouth of Bear 
River. The Utah and Nevada Railway ran westward from Salt 
I^ake City, skirting the southern shore of the Lake and turning 
southward around the Oquirrh Mountains. Passing through 
Tooele Valley, and on to Rush Valley, it fixed its terminus at 
Stockton. 

Changes in General. — Many changes resulted from the 
construction of the great continental highway. Utah entered 
upon a new era. Ller days of isolation were past. Tourists 
from East or West rarely failed to spend some time in "The 
Mormon Territory," to see the much talked of people, to sur- 
vey their W(irks, and study their institutions. Railroad and 
telegraph systems threw a iict-wurk of steel and electricity 




JOSEPH A. YOUNG. 



'nil'. K.\ll.l^( )AI) AM) W IIA'I" (AMI'. W I'J'll IT. 223 

over a region formerly traversed by l-lie slow-going ox team 
and the lumbering stage coach. Industry revived, values rose, 
and mining at length became profitable. With the inflow of 
capital and population, came the continued discovery and de- 
velopment of valuable mines, the multiplication of churches, 
schools and new^spapers, the establishment of great business 
houses, and the formation of rival political parties, the first 
that Utah had known. 

Tourist Travel. — The tide of tourist travel set in as early 
as the summer of 1869. while the journey from Ogden to Salt 
Lake City was still by stage coach or other horse-power con- 
veyance. Among the first to cross the country by rail was 
Honorable Benjamin F. >Vade, Ex-President of the United 
States Senate, and author of or sponsor for the Wade Bill, an 
anti-"Mormon" measure introduced into Congress during 
1866. Other early visitors were General Philip H. Sheridan,- 
Senator Roscoe Conklin, and William H. Seward, Lincoln's 
great Secretary of State. Seward, while in Utah, was the guest 
of Salt Lake City, and had a pleasant interview with President 
Brigham Young. The same is true of Senator Lyman Trum- 
bull, who came with Colonel James H. Bowen and a party of 
commercial men from Chicago. During that summer the ec- 
centric George Francis Train paid the Territory a visit. Early 
in the autumn Oliver Ames, President of the Union Pacific 
Railroad Company, arrived with a large party representing 
Union Pacific and Central Pacific interests. Their purpose 
was to settle the question of the removal of the railroad 
junction from Promontory to Ogden, a matter decided in No- 
vember. Major Powell, the intrepid explorer of the Colorado 
River, reached Salt Lake City in September. The object of 
the visit of the Chicago Commercial Party, as explained by 
Colonel Bowen, was "to facilitate commercial relations with lo- 
calities made tributary by the completion of the Union Pa- 
cific and Central Pacific Railroad." His complimentary allusion 
to the people of Utah for their "hearty, efficient, and timely 
aid to the companies charged with the completion of this gi- 
gantic national highway," was responded to in an appropriate 
manner by President Young. 

The Mining Revival.- — The impetus given b}' the railroad 
to the mining industry was marked. From the autumn of 
1863 to the latter part of 1865, the period covered by the opera- 
tions of General Connor and his fellow promoters, little had 
been accomplished, though a great deal of money had been ex- 
pended. Many claims had been located, mines opened, and one 
or more smelting furnaces erected in Rush Valley; but owing 
to inexperience in smelting ores, scarcity of charcoal, and high 
rates of transportation, these enterprises languished and finally 
became bankrupt. The Knickerbocker and Argenta Alining 



224 W IIITXRVS I'C^I 



AK 



S r( n<\ UF U TAll. 



and Smelting Company, organized in New York City to op- 
erate in Rush Valley, met with no better success. It was 
found impossible, without railroads, to make mining pay, and 
the attempt was abandoned. 

Early Mining Districts. — The awakening that came in 
1869-1870 was particularly manifest in Little Cottonwood 
Canyon, one of the great gorges of the Wasatch Range run- 
ning westward into Salt Lake Valley. Silver-bearing lead ore 
had been discovered there in 1863 or 1864, but little had been 
done in the way of development. About four years later the 
Little Cottonwood Mining District was organized. The ear- 
liest to operate in that part were the Woodhull brothers, who 
made the first shipment of Utah galena ore in the summer of 
1869. It went to the Selby Reduction -Works, at San Fran- 
cisco. Another early shipment was to James Lewis and Com- 
pany, Liverpool, England ; the ore being smelted at Swansea, 
Wales. The success of these ventures gave an impetus to min- 
ing all over the Territory. In 1868 Utah had two mining dis- 
tricts ; in 1871 there were thirty-two. The originals were the 
Rush Valley District, covering the whole western slope of the 
Oquirrh Mountains; and the West Mountain District, covering 
all the eastern slope. 

The Emma Mine — Other Properties. — One of the earliest 
locations in Little Cottonwood was the Emma Mine, which 

sold in England for five million 
dollars — much more than it was 
actually worth. The Flagstaff, 
a neighbor to the Emma, was 
disposed of in the same market 
for one and a half millions. 

During the excitement 
caused by the rich develop- 
ments in Little Cottonwood, 
horn silver was discovered in 
East Canyon of the Oquirrh 
range— east with reference to 
Tooele Valley, into which it 
runs. There, in 1870, was or- 
ganized the Ophir Mining Dis- 
trict; its first location being 
the Silveropolis Mine. The 
earliest workings of this prop- 
erty, forty tons, were shipped 
west by the Walker Brothers, 
netting them twenty-four 
thousand dollars. The richness 

]. kOl'.INSON WALKER. r ,i c ^ • T '.^^^1 n t 

of the finds in Little Cot- 




THE RAJl.RoAl) AND WHAT CA\H^ WITH IT. 225 

tonwood and Opliir made Utah famous as a first-rate minini; 
field. 

The Rush Valley Claims. — Many owners of claims in and 
around Rush Valley were soldiers from Camp Douglas. Soon 
after the close of the Civil War the Volunteers, relieved by 
regular troops from the East, left Utah to seek employment 
elsewhere. Before going, those who had prospects brought 
about an amendment of the mining laws, making claims per- 
petually valid," though they had had but little work done upon 
them. This action, by preventing the same ground from being 
relocated, greatly retarded the development of the mines in 
that section. 

First Mining Camps. — Each mining district had its 
"camp" or "town."' where the miners and other workmen 
dwelt. The more important camps at the beginning were Bing- 




BINGHAM. 



ham, in Bingham Canyon, and Alta, in Little Cottonwood. 
In and around Alta, "the home of the snowslide." many per- 
sons lost their lives, victims to the avalanche. Thriving 
towns also sprang up in the Tintic, Uintah. Camp Floyd. Gold 
Mountain, and other districts. At Park City, in the Uintah 
District, was the great Ontario Mine. Other famous properties 
have since been developed there. 

The Utah Central and Utah Southern railroads, with their 
extensions, did much for the mining industry. Connecting 



14 



22t^ W lHr\K\"S I'Ol'll.AK HIS'lORN' OF I'lAH. 

lines to Bingham, Little Cottonwood, iuid Aincricjin b'ork can- 
yons were soon running, and ores from these and other local- 
ities found speedy transit to mills and smelters at home and 
abroad. Subsequently a railroad, passing up Parley's Can- 
yon, helped to develop the mines in and around Park City. 

Smelters and Stamp Mills. — It was during the summer of 
1870 that the first smelters were erected in Salt Pake \^aliev ; 




PARK CIT^'. 



the earliest being that of the Woodhull brothers, which was 
built at a point where Big Cottonwood Creek crosses State 
Street. From these works was shipped the first bullion pro- 
duced in Utah. In 1871 the ^^'"alker Brothers put up a crushing 
and amalgamating mill in East Canyon, a mill with fifteen 
stamps, used for working the silver ores of Ophir.* 

The Co-operative Movement. — The period of the mining 
revival witnessed the establishment of Zion's Co-operative 
Mercantile Institution, better known by its initials, Z. C. M. I.; 
the greatest enterprise of its kind that the inter-mountain 
region has yet known. It was partly in pursuance of their pol- 
icy of community protection, referred to in the previous chap- 

*At first silver and lead were the staple products of the Utah 
mines; though gold and copper were also found in Bingham Canyon 
and in other places. Between the summer of 1869 and the autumn of 
1871, ten thousand tons of silver and gold ores, valued at $2,500,000. 
were shipped from the Territory; also four thousand five hundred 
tons of gold and silver bullion, worth $1,237,000, and two hundred 
and thirty-one tons of copper ore, valued at $6,000. Silver bars, ob- 
tained by milling the silver ores, produced $120,000. .The distinctive 
feature of I^tah mining today ('1916") is copper production. 



THE RAILROAD AND W HAT CAME WTlIf n\ 227 

Icr, that the "Mormon" leaders established "Co-operation." 
Hrigham Young was the prime mover, and associated with him 
were such financial pillars as William Jennings, William EI. 
Hooper and Horace S. Eldredge. Numbered also among the 
main promoters were George A. Smith, George Q. Cannon, 
Joseph F. Smith, Abraham O. Smoot, Erastus Snow, Moses 
Thatcher, and other stalwart men of affairs. They and tlieir 
associates founded at Salt Lake City a parent commercial in- 
stitution which dealt directly with wholesale houses East and 
West, and was itself the principal source of supply for mercan- 
tile and industrial concerns throughout the Territory. At 
the same time it carried on a retail trade of its own, with 
branches at Ogden, Logan, Provo and other points. Local 
merchants were invited to turn in their stock and become part 
owners, and the people generally were solicited to take shares. 




Z. C. M. I. MAIN BUILDING. 



The avowed object was to keep down prices, foster home in- 
dustries, and unite the material interests of the old settlers in 
the face of the strong competition that was beginning to surge 
in from outside sources. The co-operative movement was 
launched in October 1868.* 



*Tliis was not Utah's first attempt at co-operation. Lorenzo 
Snow and others had founded, in 1864, the Brigham City Mercantile 
and Manufacturing .'\ssociation, a co-operative concern which, branch- 
ing out from humble beginnings, grew into many departments and 
achieved quite a notable career. The success attending that venture 
heljied to pave the way for the greater movement that followed. 



22^ WlirrXKVS rol'LLAU HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Provo had the honor of opening the first co-operative store 
under the new system; Salt Lake City and other towns then 
wheeling into line. Z. C. M. I. flourished; its growth was 
phenomenal. Co-operation became the watchword of the 
hour. All over Utah and even beyond her borders, wherever 
there were Latter-day Saints, business was conducted along 
these lines; not only in co-operative stores, mills and factories, 
but in co-operative cattle and sheep herds, stock farms, dairies, 
and other industries.* 

A Groundless Fear. — The "Gentiles" surveyed the co-op- 
erative movement with grave concern, regarding it as a dan- 
gerous monopoly. They supposed that it meant ruin to their 




WALKER BROTHERS STORE. 



material interests. But their fears were groundless. It ben- 
efited the entire community — in no way more pronouncedly 
than as a leveler of prices, an employer of labor, and a pro- 
moter of good and worthy enterprises. 



*The Utah mills and factories deserve special mention. The 
Provo Woolen Mills, founded by A. O. Smoot and othprs in 1869, 
while not the first in point of time, proved by far the most successful. 
One of the earliest was a cotton and woolen factory, at Washington, 
Washington County, built by Brigham Young in 1865, and later 
sold to the Rio Virgen Manufacturing Company, of which Erastus 
Snow was president. 



THE RAILROAD AND WHAT CAME WITH IT. 229 

The chief rival of Z. C. M. I., was the great mercantile firm 
of Walker Brothers. The Walkers had once been "Mormons," 
but long before co-operation was introduced they had left the 
Church and were classed among the "Gentiles." Another big 
concern was that of the Auerbach Brothers, Jews. All three 
houses are still in existence, though many changes have passed 
over them. Z. C. M. I., at the present time (1916), has "Gen- 
tile" as well as "Mormon" stockholders.* 

Land Matters. — The United States land laws were now 
extended over the Territory, and the people who had waited so 
long for legal titles to the ground upon which they had built 
their homes, were in a fair way to be confirmed in the posses- 
sion of the soil they occupied. A Surveyor General's Office 
had been established in Utah as early as February, 1855, when 
David H. Burr was appointed Surveyor General. He was suc- 
ceeded in June, 1859, by Samuel C. Stambough, who was fol- 
lowed in August, 1861, by S. R. Fox. About a year later Utah 
and Colorado were consolidated into one surveying district, 
with the chief office at Denver; but in 1868 the office was re- 
established at Salt Lake City, with General John A. Clark as 
Surveyor General. 

The Land Office was opened in March, 1869, with C. C. 
Clements as Register, and Lewis S. Hills, a Utah man, as Re- 
ceiver. Mr. Clements soon succeeded General Clark, and Mr. 
Hills gave place to Receiver Giles P. Overton. The new Reg- 
ister was General George R. Maxwell, a shattered veteran of 
the Civil War. He was from Michigan. Maxwell was no 



*What was looked upon as a deliberate attempt to cripple Z. C. 
M. I. was put forth in 1879, when arose "The Scrip Case," the parties 
to which were the United States, by its Internal Revenue Collector, 
O. J. Hollister, and Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution. This 
litigation was over the taxation of the scrip issued by Z. C. M. I. to 
its employes, a certain amount of which found its way into general 
circulation — -not as money, but as due bills, payable in merchandise 
at the various stores owned and conducted by the Institution. Colonel 
Hollister contended that these bills were a regular circulating ine- 
dium, and as such he taxed them. To his peremptory demand for 
the amount of the ta.x— $16,810.92— the directors of Z. C. M. I. had no 
alternative but to pay, protesting, however, against the exaction as 
illegal. Proceedings for the recovery of the amount were instituted 
in the Utah courts, and the case was finally carried to the highest 
tribunal in the land. The result in every instance was a ruling against 
the Revenue Collector, the tax being pronounced illegal. The final 
decision was rendered in the summer of 1884, and subsequently the 
tax money was refunded with interest. The Brigham City Manufac- 
turing and Mercantile Association had also planted suits, for similar 
cause, against the Collector, and in due time they likewise recovered 
the amount of the tax paici by them to the Government. Other co- 
operative concerns were injuriously affected by the CoUactor's action. 



230 \\111TNE\"S I'Ol'lLAK HISTORY OF UTAH. 

friend to the "Mormons." and while he was in office they had 
considerable trouble over their land matters.* 

The University Revives. — At the beginning of the railroad 
era the University of Deseret. after a long' period of inactivity, 
took on a new lease of life. In December, 1867 it again opened 
its doors to students in the Council House, and during the next 
two years was conducted chiefly as a commercial school, with 
David O. Calder as Principal. In the autumn of 1869 the Uni- 

*Mayor Wells, of Salt Lake City, in an interview with a corre- 
spondent of "The Cincinnati Commercial,'' thus paid his respects to 
Register Maxwell: 

"Mayor Wells — It is no fault of the United States Government 
that we are not now peacefully possessing the titles to the ground we 
have redeemed, and which Congress wishes us to retain. It is the 
fault of the unrelenting Land Register here, Maxwell, who has en- 
tertained and abetted every petty and malicious claim contesting our 
right to the site, and who hinders the entry of our city. 

"Correspondent. — How much do you claim as the proper area of 
Salt Lake City? 

"Mayor Wells. — About five thousand seven hundred acres, suf- 
ficient to give us water front on the Jordan, and control of the irrigating 
reservoirs. We have laid out the city with an eye to coolness, breath- 
ing valves, wide streets, and plats for recreation. * * * Salt Lake 
has grown so far beyond all precedents that we had to get a special 
relief bill passed, applying to our city, and we took a census for the 
purpose. The Land Office at Washington recommended, and Con- 
gress promptly passed, the special bill, under the terms of which we 
added to our original chart other essential bits of ground." 

"Correspondent. — Give me the names of all the claims which 
Maxwell has entertained against the City. 

"Mayor Wells. — Well, there are the Robinson, Slosson, William- 
son and Orr cases. Robinson was a retired surgeon of the army. 
* * * He jumped the Warm Springs property, our public bath 
houses on the outskirts of the town, with eighty acres of environing 
land, * * * pnt a tent and a guard by the spring, and built a fence 
within our fence. * * * We removed his obstructions, and he em- 
barassed us at law until his death, when his widow continued the suit, 
and the land agent actually permitted her to make a cash entry of the 
place. Very differently did the Washington authorities behave. The 
Commissioner of the Land Office decided without hesitation in our 
favor, and the Secretary of the Interior confirmed it." * * * * 
Slosson was a fellow who first rented a quarter-section of ground 
from the City on the road leading to Camp Douglas, and when he 
undertook to keep a rum shop on it, in violation of law, we ejected 
him. He was then abetted by Maxwell in a barefaced attempt to 
claim it and enter it; but Maxwell's decision was reversed by the 
heads of department at Washington." Mayor Wells went on to re- 
late how Williamson jumped the parade ground, while Orr — a Salt 
Lake lawyer — filed upon eighty acres between Ensign Peak and Arsenal 
Hill, both of which claims were entertained by the Register, who 
refused to decide them, and so kept back the City entry. There was 
no complaint against Congress or the General Land Office, the Mayor 
added, but Register Maxwell ought to be instructed not to entertain 
"these paltry claims." each of which was "a reproduction of claims 
alreadv thrown out." 



Ill I'. J<.\1 Lk( ).\1) A XI) WHAT CAM h: WIT 11 IT. 2ol 



versity was more fully or.^anized on a basis of classical, sci- 
entific, and normal instruction, under the direction of Dr. John 
R. Park, who had been elected President by the Board of Re- 
gents. Dr. Park was a native of Ohio, and a medical p^raduatc 
of the University of the City of New York. He had been a 
permanent resident of Utah since 1864. 

Newspapers and Magazines. — Many changes took place in 
the field of journalism. In November, 1867 "The Deserct 
News," until then issued week- 
ly and semi-weekly, made its 
appearance as a daily paper — 
"The Deseret Evening News." 
with George Q. Cannon as edi- 
tor. In January, 1868 Elias E. 
T. Harrison and William S. 
Godbe established "The Utah 
Magazine," which became "The 
Mormon Tribune," and even- 
tually "The Salt Lake Tri- 
bune." Mr. Harrison and Ed- 
ward W. Tullidge had previ- 
ously started "The Peep O' 
Day," a literary and scientific 
periodical which suspended af- 
ter a brief career. In lune. 
1870, "The Salt Lake HeVald" 
was founded by Edward L. 
Sloan and William C. Dunbar, 
who took in as a third partner 
John T. Caine. The "Herald" succeeded the "Daily Tele- 
graph," which, with its opponent, the "Union Vedette," had 
passed out of existence. Another journal of note was "The 
Ogden Junction," owned by Franklin D. Richards and others, 
and edited by Charles W. Penrose. "The Woman's Expo- 
nent," a weekly paper founded by leading women of the "Mor- 
mon" Church, issued its first number in June, 1872, with Lula 
Greene Richards as editor. But the name most closely identi- 
fied with the Exponent, and longest at the head of its editorial 
columns, was that of Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells. Several smaller 
prints were published at the capital and in two or three of the 
countr}^ towns. 

Churches and Schools. — The earliest religious organiza- 
tion at Sail Lake City, after the Latter-day Saints, was the 
Congregational Society, which built Independence Hall, incor- 
porated the Salt Lake Academy, erected Hammond Hall, and 
established a free school. Next came the Episcopalians, found- 
ing St. Mark's Cathedral and subsequently St. Mark's Hospital. 




DR. TOHN R. PARK. 



WHITNEY'S I'OPULAK HISTORY OF UTAH. 




the first institution of its kind 

in the Territory. Presbyterian 

&l|tf|iiflPHh^ work began with the rise of 

;' ^^^H Corinne, in March, 1869. Two 

«^H years later there was a Presby- 

<>«». ^tttf^ ^^z terian church at the capital, and 

until it was completed, the pas- 
tor, Reverend Josiah Welch, 
preached in Faust's Hall, on 
Second South Street. The Meth- 
odists sent their first missionary 
to Utah — Reverend Gustavus 
M. Pierce — in the spring of 1870. 
They carried on their work, 
first at Corinne, and then at Salt 
Lake City, building a church 
near the site of the original Pio- 
neer camp-ground. In June. 
1871, a Methodist camp meet- 
ing was held in the same vicin- 
ity. By that time the Baptists 
had also put in an appearance. 
As early as 1864 a Catholic priest, Father Raverdy of Denver, 
came to Camp Douglas, and at the request of General Con- 
nor consecrated the post cemetery; but the first structure 
reared by the Catholics in Utah was the Church of St. Mary 
Magdalen, dedicated in November, 1871. They also founded 
St. Mary's Academy, the Hospital of the Holy Cross, and 
All Hallows College. Their first resident pastor was Edward 



BISHOP SCANLAN. 




ST. MARK S TTOSPTTAf. 



THE RAILROAD AND WHAT CAME WITH IT. 233 

Kelley ; then followed in succession Fathers James P. Foley, 
Patrick Walsh, and Lawrence Scanlan. The Jews held re- 
ligious services at the capital in 1871 ; their little congregation, 
until it could better itself, being given the free use of a room 
in the City Hall. Meantime the Latter-day Saints had partly 
reared their great Temple at Salt Lake City, completed their 
mammoth Tabernacle, and dotted the land, from Bear Lake 
to the Rio Virgen, with chapels, school houses and other 
public buildings. 



XX. 

MODERN GUELF AND GHIBELLINE. 

1867-1870. 

Almost a Parallel. — In Italy during the Middle Ages there 
existed a social and political condition of which affairs in Utah 
have at times been strongly reminiscent. This reference is to 
the feuds of the Guelfs and the Ghibellines; the former, par- 
tisans of the Pope, the latter those of the Emperor. They were 
also known as the popular and the aristocratic parties. It is not 
the purpose of this History to draw an extended comparison 
between Italy with her Guelfs and Ghibellines, and Utah with 
her '"Mormons" and "Gentiles." Suffice it that the bitterness 
engendered in the Fifteenth Century between the militant par- 
ties named, was not more intense than the acrimony often 
manifested between the classes of citizens comprising this 
modern commonwealth. 

Three Classes. — There are really three classes in Utah, as 
observed by Captain Burton in 1860; namely, "Mormons," 
"Gentiles," and "Anti-Mormons." The "Anti-Mormons" are 
"Gentiles," but not all the "Gentiles" are "Anti-Mormons." 
There are radicals and conservatives in every party. 

A "Mormon" View of the "Gentile." — There is no oppro- 
brious intent in the use by "Mormons" of the word "Gentile." 
The Book of Mormon, without naming Columbus, Washing- 
ton, the Pilgrim Fathers, and the Patriots of the Revolution, 
refers to them as "Gentiles," and describes American and 
European nations as "the nations of the Gentiles." While 
claiming Tsraelitish origin in part, the Eatter-day Saints be- 
lieve themselves likewise descended from Japheth. the original 
"Cientile." They revere the names and works of the founders 
of the American Republic, and hold that the children of Jap- 
heth. with their wonderful insight into and command over 
material things, their skill in commerce, politics, art, science, 
and other agencies of civilization, are virtually their co-workers 
in a mission that contemplates the gathering of scattered Israel 
and the introduction of the Millennial Reign. "They shall fly 
Ujion the shoulders of the Philistines toward the West" (Isaiah 
11 :14). The "Mormon" interprets this to mean the migration 
of modern Israel from trans-Atlantic nations to America, the 
Eand of Zion ; "the shoulders of the Philistines" being the 
steamships and railroads of the "Gentiles." In other words. 
Divine Providence, in latter as in former times, has given to 
the "Gentiles" a great temporal mission, second only to the 



M()1)1>:k\ (iu^:Li' and (;iiibelline. 235 

spiritual mission of tlie House of Israel, and practically a part 
thereof, since the spiritual includes the temporal. This inclu- 
sion, by the way. as asserted in "Mormon" philosophy and 
practice, is precisely what the "Gentiles" object to. misinter- 
preting the motive behind it. and rejj^arding the i;oal aimed at 
as evil. Nor should the fact be at all surprising'. The 
"Gentile" cannot be expected to take a "Mormon" view of the 
subject. The objection is natural, but the fear is unfounded. 
Bioad and high, patriotic and pure, are the real aims of the 
real "Mormonism." 

Utah's "Irrepressible Conflict." — Responsibility for the 
factional strife that tore Utah almost from the hour of her 
creation, rests largely upon the essentially un-American sys- 
tem of sending strangers to rule over communities with which 
they have little or nothing in common^ — officers not elected by 
the people, but appointed by the General Government, and 
frequently, in the past, unworthy of the positions for which 
they were chosen. Among all the political dependencies of 
the Nation, Utah's case was unique, in that most of her people 
professed one religion — a religion unpopular in the world, and 
whose votaries were often hated by those who came from 
other parts to govern, to administer the law. or otherwise 
officiate among them. Local self-government — that basic 
principle of all true Democracy — would doubtless have solved 
many of the problems that vexed our Territorial history. 

The causes of the strife, however, were not entirely polit- 
ical. Social and religious prejudice has played and still plays 
its part in dividing and keeping asunder those who might 
otherwise be friendly. It would only be a truism to say that 
the fault is not entirely on one side. "Mormons" and "Gen- 
tiles" are but human beings — the rest follows. Most of the 
wranglings that have distracted Utah, as the result of disagree- 
ments between these classes, have been based upon misunder- 
standings, misinterpretations of acts and motives, the antag- 
onism of supposed rival claims and adverse interests. It is the 
h.ope and belief of good people on either side, that when "Mor- 
mons" and "Gentiles" know each other better, thev will like 
each other more. 

General Connor's Policy. — A former chapter mentioned 
the plan proposed by the founder of Camp Douglas for Utah's 
"regeneration." "My policy," said General Connor, "has been 
to invite hither a large Gentile and loyal population, sufficient 
by peaceful means and through the ballot b(^x to overwhelm 
the Mormons by mere force of numbers, and thus wrest from 
the Church — disloyal and traitorous to the core — the absolute 
and tyrannical control of civil and temporal affairs: or at least 
a population lumierous enough to put a check on the Mormon 



236 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

authorities, and give countenance to those who are striving- to 
loosen the bonds with which they have been so long op- 
pressed." 

General Connor was no doubt sincere in his desire to bring 
about a change that he believed would be for the best good of 
all. But he did not understand the "Mormon" people, nor the 
genius of the "Mormon" religion. He did not apprehend the 
true situation. The Church was not "disloyal and traitorous," 
and its members were not "oppressed." The only "bonds" 
that held them were the bonds of duty and devotion. Nor 
would their religion have countenanced oppression in any 
form, either against themselves or against their non-"Mormon" 
neighbors. They were "rebels" in one sense — they rebelled in 
their feelings against misrepresentation. They refused to con- 
sider themselves "traitors," and insisted that they were loyal 
"to the core." Their contempt for those who imagined them- 
selves possessed of all the patriotism in the community, was 
quite as pronounced as the arrogance that called it forth. Gen- 
eral Connor's extreme views underwent considerable modifica- 
tion after he had lived a while in Utah, and the same is true 
of the harsh opinions originally entertained toward him and 
his fellows. 

The General proposed, by developing the mines, to in- 
crease the "Gentile" vote, and place it in control of civic affairs. 
Having failed in his purpose, he quit Utah for a season, and 
the Volunteers at Camp Douglas, when relieved by regular 
troops, also left the Territory. The "regenerating" work, like 
the mining movement, then went into abeyance. 

The "Gentile" Opportunity. — An opportunity to effect 
some of the changes desired by the "Gentiles" came with the 
advent of the railroad. Thenceforth Utah was to have at least 
two political parties. Up to that time she had but one — the 
People's Partv, most of whose adherents were members of the 
"Mormon" Church. This party began its career in March, 
1849, with the inception of the Provisional Government. The 
Liberal Party, which now came into existence, was made up of 
all classes not included in the People's Party. The Liberals 
recognized General Connor as the father of their political or- 
ganization, though he was not its immediate founder. It grew 
out of a coalition between the "Gentiles" and a small bodv of 
seceding "Mormons" known as "Godbeites," concerning whom 
more will be said presently. 

Baskin and McGrorty. — Another claimant to the distinc- 
tion of having originated the first "Gentile" political party in 
Utah, is Robert N. Baskin, the veteran "Anti-Mormon" attor- 
ney. True it is that as early as February, 1867, the "Gentile" 
^•otcrs put Forward a candidate for office — one A\niliam Mc- 



MUDERN GUELE AND GHIBELLINE. 237 

Grorty, a merchant in a small way at Salt Lake City. He ran 
for Congress against Captain Hooper, the sitting Delegate. 
The organization of a "Gentile" party, to "oppose the political 
control of the priesthood," had previously been suggested by 
Mr. Baskin, and it was he who nominated "McGroarty" (such 
is his spelling of the name) for Congress. This was at the 
office of Abel Gilbert, another Salt Lake merchant, where cer- 
tain "Gentile" business men were wont to assemble after busi- 
ness hours, to "discuss and condemn the state of afifairs in 
Utah." Mr. Baskin had then been a resident of the Territory 
for about two years. He was originally from Ohio, and had 
graduated from the law school of Harvard University. At 
the election McGrorty received a little over one hundred votes, 
while for his opponent more than fifteen thousand were cast. 
The defeated candidate carried his case to Washington, con- 
testing Hooper's right to be reseated. His attorney was 
former Associate Justice Waite. 

Too Long a Wait. — Unfortunately for Mr. McGrorty, he 
had an attorney, in the author of "The Mormon Prophet," who 
could tell him more about the faults of his neighbors, than 
about the laws of Congress governing Delegate elections. He 
allowed nearly a year to pass before beginning his contest, 
notice of which, according to Congressional law, had to be filed 
within thirty days after the result of the election had been 
officially ascertained. "Too long a Waite" — pardoning the 
word-play — would have headlined the situation appropri- 
ately. It was January, 1868, when McGrorty filed with the 
Committee on Elections of the House of Representatives his 
printed brief, accompanied by documents in support of various 
allegations therein contained. 

Charges and Refutations. — Among other things McGrortv 
charged that the "Mormons" were required by a rule of their 
Church to take an oath inconsistent with their duties as loyal 
and law-abiding citizens, and he implied that Captain Hooper 
had taken such an oath. He also alleged that in some of the 
voting precincts the election had been conducted irregularly, 
and that persons not entitled to vote had been permitted to 
cast their ballots. The reason assigned for the delay in be- 
ginning the contest, was "fear of personal violence at the hands 
of members of the People's Party." 

It is alleged that the main purpose of the contest was "to 
direct the attention of Congress and the Nation to existing 
conditions in Utah." Granting this to be true, the inference is 
reasonable that McGrorty's whole candidacy had that object 
in view, since his defeat at the polls was inevitable, and his 
rejection at Washington no less certain. But why the gap oi 
ncarlv a vear between the election and the contest? The 



allcL;ccl "fear ul i)cisiinal \ ioUiicr" [iinxrd lo l)c mere clap-lrap. 
an explanation that flifl not explain. If sneli a danj^er had 
really existed, it would have been just as imminent when the 
contest began, as at any previous period. But as a matter of 
fact it had no existence whatever. 

Hooper refused to recognize McGrorty as a legal con- 
testant, since he had failed to comply with the law of Congress 
relating to election contests. Ignoring the sensational tales 
forming the principal part of the complaint, and denying for 
himself and his people the taking of any oath of disloyalty to 
the Government, he submitted al^davits from Colonel Head, 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs ; Solomon P. McCurdy, Asso- 
ciate Justice ; Frank F'uller and Amos Reed, former Secretaries 
and Acting-Governors ; with statements from forty-one other 
"Gentiles" — merchants, bankers, and business men — all refut- 
ing McGrorty's assertion that he would have been in danger of 
personal violence had he begun his contest earlier. They de- 
clared that he could have done so with perfect safety at any 
time after the election ; that the freest expression of opinion 
was tolerated in Utah ; and that McGrorty, while publicly an- 
nouncing on the streets that he was contesting the seat of the 
Delegate-elect, had not been molested in any manner. As to 
the alleged irregularities in the election. Hooper said : "Should 
the vote of the two whole counties in which the precincts are 
located be rejected, the sitting Delegate still has over twelve 
thousand majority, and McGrorty but sixty-four votes ; these 
being the only two counties in which ex parte statements have 
been taken as to irregularities, and the evidence is not suf^cient 
as to these." 

Hooper Again Seated. — The Committee on Elections hav- 
ing rendered its report, the House of Representatives, in July 
1868, unanimously adopted the same, refusing to admit Mr. 
McGrorty as Delegate from Utah, and deciding that Mr. 
Hooper w^as rightfully entitled to the seat. In the following 
August the latter was elected to the Forty-first Congress with- 
out opposition.* 

*From the first election in Utah until early in 1867, there had been 
an interregnum of several months during which the Territory was 
without a Delegate in Congress. This interval was from the 4th of 
March in the odd j^ears, when each Congress expires, until the first 
Monday in the succeeding August, when the local election took place, 
so that in case of an extra session between March and August of these 
years the Territory would have been unrepresented. To obviate this 
deficiency a law was enacted in January, 1867, providing that the elec- 
tion of Delegate to the Fortieth Congress should be held on the first 
Monday in the following February, and that the Delegate for the 
Forty-first Congress should be chosen at the general election on the 
first Monday of August, 1868, and biennially thereafter. In this way 
the Delegate was chosen several months in advance of the expiration 
of his predecessor's term. 



M( )i)i';k.\ (.ui-:i.i' AND (.Mini' 



Nh:. 



2i'J 



The Godbeite Movement.- It was alioiit this lime that the 
"Godbeitc Movcnicnt" began. The estabbshnieiit ni "The 
Utah Magazine," b}- William S. (lodbe and Elias L. T. Harri- 
son, has been mentioned in a former chapter. Mr. Godbe was 
a merchant, and Mr. Harrison an architect. The latter, a tal- 
ented writer, was the editor of the magazine, which first ap- 
peared in January 1868, and was issued weekly at Salt Lake 
City. Originally pro-"Mormon." its owners then being prom- 
inent Elders of the Church, it soon changed its tone and began 
to advocate policies opposite to 
those of the Church leaders, 
and deemed by them hurtful lo 
the higher interests of the com- 
munity. iVmong other things, 
it advocated the development of 
the mines, a movement regard- 
ed by those leaders as still prem- 
ature. Covert insinuations, re- 
flecting upon President Young, 
also found way into the col- 
umns of the periodical. 

' The visit to Utah of Alex- 
ander and David Smith, sons of 
the Prophet Joseph Smith, 
tiiough not connected with the 
Church to whose presidency 
P)righam Young had succeeded, 
gave the Utah Magazine an o])- 
portunity to speed a shaft in 
the direction of "The One Man 
Power," as President Young 
was termed by some of his op- 
ponents. Assuming that it was 
his purpose to found a dynasty, and have one of his sons suc- 
ceed him at the head of the Church, the Magazine, while com- 
bating the claim to succession put forth by Alexander and 
David Smith in behalf of their elder brother Joseph, used the 
following language : "If we know the true feeling of 
our brethren, it is that they never intend Joseph Smith's 
nor any other man's son to preside over them, simply because 
of their sonship. The principle of heirship has cursed the 
world for ages, and with our brethren we expect to fight it 
till, with everv other relic of tyranny, it is trodden under foot" 
("The Rocky":\Tountain Saints," p. 635.)* 

*"Young Joseph," as the Prophet's eldest son was called, presided 
at that time over a religious body styling itself "The Re-organized 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," having its headquarters 




WILLIAM S. GODliE. 



_MU WHITNEY'S P(Jl'LLAK IllSroKV OK UTAH. 

The antagonism of those owning and conducting" the Utah 
Magazine became so pronounced that in October, 1869, they 
were severed from the Church. A few others having followed 
them, they formed a congregation and held meetings for a 
time, by permission of President Young, in the Thirteenth 
Ward Assembly Rooms. Afterwards they met in Walker 
Brothers "Old Store." Subsequently the "Godbeites" erected 
a building of their own— "The Liberal Institute," situated on 
Second East, between First and Second South streets. Their 
opposition to the Church leaders, while emphatic, was respect- 
ful, never bitter and abusive, like the assaults of some of their 
colleagues. Such was the origin of "The Godbeite Movement," 
otherwise known as "The New Movement"; the latter name 
recognized by its adherents. 

Early in 1870 the "Godbeites" established a. paper, "The 
Mormon Tribune," issued weekly and designed as the organ 
of the New Movement. It was the Utah Magazine trans- 
formed. The publishers were William S. Godbe and Elias L. 
T. Harrison ; the editors, Mr. Harrison and Edward W- Tul- 
lidge.* The business manager of the paper, Eli B. Kelsey, 
soon retired, and was succeeded by William H. Shearman. 

A Second Colfax Visit. — Shortly before the excommunica- 
tion of Elders Godb.e and Harrison, Schuyler Colfax made his 
second visit to Salt Lake City. He was now Vice President 
of the United States. Again he was proffered the municipal 
hospitalities; but this time declined them, being offended at 
the "Mormon" leaders, a report having reached him to the 
effect that President Young, in a public discourse, had referred 
to the heads of the Nation as "drunkards" and "gamblers." 
Learning of the prospective "Utah Schism," as the New Move- 
ment was afterwards termed, and viewing it as a good omen, 
Mr. Colfax became interested in Mr. Godbe and his friends, one 
of whom, T. B. H. Stenhouse, had a conversation with the Vice 



at Piano, Illinois. This body, originally made up of apostate "Mor- 
mon" factions, denied that Brigham Young was the lawful successor 
to Joseph Smith, and they also made strenuous though vain efforts to 
prove that Brigham, and not Joseph, introduced plural marriage into 
the Church, and that the Prophet never practiced it. To present these 
claims, missionaries had been sent to Utah as early as 1862 or 1863, 
and the visit of Alexander and David had a similar purpose. The task 
of replying to them in public was assigned by President Young to 
Elder Joseph F. Smith, son of Hyrum Smith the martyred Patriarch, 
and then but recently called into the Council of the Twelve. 

*Mr. Tullidge was a gifted dramatic writer, the author of several 
plays. One of these, "Eleanor De Vere," was written especially for 
Julia Dean Hayne, and was presented at the Salt Lake Theatre, with 
that great actress in the title role. Tullidge also wrote, in after years, 
the "Life of Brigham Young," "The Women of Mormondom," "Life 
of Joseph the Prophet," and "The History of Salt Lake City." 



MODERN GUELF AND (illlBELLlNE. 241 

President upon local conditions. "Will Brigham Young fight?" 
asked Colfax significantly. In reply, Mr. Stenhouse pleaded 
that Utah might be allowed to solve her own problems, with- 
out interference from the outside.* 

Vice President Colfax, on the evening ui the 5th of Octo- 
ber, delivered a speech from the portico of the Townsend 
House, at the corner of West Temple and First South streets; 
a multitude of hearers thronging the space below. After prais- 
ing the Territorial Fair, which was then being held, with its 
interesting exhibits of cotton, woolen, silk, and other home 
products; also the Tabernacle and its splendid organ, which 
he had just heard for the first time ; the orator commented upon 
President Young's alleged derogatory remark concerning the 
heads of the Nation. He declared it untrue, whereupon some- 
one in the crowd shouted : "Brigham Y^oung never said it." 
Colfax rejoined that this was the first time he had heard the 
report denied, and rather implied that he was "of the same 
opinion still." 

A Spirited Controversy. — The Vice President, in the 
course of his address, touched upon the subject of plural mar- 
riage, saying: "I do not concede that the institution you have 
established here, and which is condemned by law, is a question 
of religion." This declaration brought forth a written reply 
from one of the leading men of the Church — Elder John Tay- 
lor, of the Council of the Twelve, whose communication was 
published in the New York Tribune and copied by other 
Eastern papers. Therein he asked the question : "Who con- 
stituted Mr. Colfax a judge of my religious faith? I think he 
ha? stated that 'the faith of every man is a matter between 
himself and God alone.' " Mr. Colfax answered through the 
columns of the New York Independent, and this was followed 
by another rejoinder from Elder Taylor. All the articles were 
subsequently published together in pamphlet form.f 

Editor Bowles Again. — Vice President Colfax, upon his 
second visit to the Territory, was accompanied, as before, by 
Lieutenant Governor Bross, of Illinois, and by the Massachu- 
setts editor, Samuel Bowles. The latter, who had written so 
favorably of Utah and her people on the former occasion, 
now reversed his friendly attitude. In a Supplement to his 
book, "Across the Continent," he stated that since the visit 
of the Colfax party to Salt Lake City in June 1863, the "Mor- 
mon" leaders had "repudiated their professions of loyalty to 

*See Tullidge's "History of Salt Lake City," pp. 398-400. 

tFor the Colfax speech and the Taylor leply, with other matter 
upon the same subject, see Tullidge's "History of Salt Lake City," 
Chapter 46; also Whitney's "History of Utah," Vol. 2. Chapter 14. 

16 



242 WHITNEY'S I'OL'LM.AK IIISruR\' Ob' UTAH. 

the Government." "New means were taken," he asserted, "to 
organize and drill the militia of the Territory." and provide 
them with arms, "under the auspices and authority of the 
Mormon Church ;" and "an open conflict w^ith the representa- 
tives of the Government" was "apparentlv braved, even threat- 
ened." 

There was no justification for such a statement. No "pro- 
fessions of loyalty" had been "repudiated" by the "Mormon" 
leaders. They were standing where thev had always stood in 
their attitude toward the Government. The organizing and 
drilling of the militia was "under the auspices and authority" 
of the Territory of Utah, and had been going on for a genera- 
tion. If any "new means" were taken to arm, organize and 
drill the citizen soldiers in 1869, it was to prepare against pos- 
sible Indian outbreaks, such as the Black Hawk War. which 
had recently closed. During that strife word had come from 
the military authorities in the East, that the militia, instead of 
regular troops, must be depended upon "to compel the Indians 
to behave ;" and the extra organizing, arming and drilling, if 
there was any. had that as its object. Mr. Bowles was still 
further imposed upon by those from whom he drew his in- 
spiration. He published, as sermons of Brigham Yoting and 
olhers. a lot of senseless stufif, which anyone acquainted with 
those men and their style of address would have recognized as 
spurious. The Bowles Supplement was looked upon as part 
of the Colfax war program, broadly hinted at in the Vice Presi- 
dent's significant question: "Will Brigham Young fight?" 

Proposed Anti-" Mormon" Legislation. — The sentiment 
prevailing at the capital of the Nation favored the introduction 
into Congress of the Cragin and Cullom bills, which, though 
they did not become law, created as much agitation as if they 
had been placed upon the statute books. They were similar 
to. though severer than, the Wade Bill, which had previously 
failed of passage. These measures had been framed at Salt 
Lake City, and sent to W^ashington to he fathered l)v the dis- 
tinguished gentlemen whose names they bore. 

The Cragin Bill. — Senator Aaron H. Cragin, of New 
Hampshire, introduced his 1)ill earl}- in December, 1869. It 
proposed to give the Governor of Utah the sole right to select, 
appoint, and commission all ofiicers of the Territory, except 
constables; to abolish trial by jury in polygamous cases, and 
make it criminal for a "Mormon" to solemnize any marriage, 
or even to be present at a plural marriage ceremony. The 
Governor was to be virtually the Trustee-in-Trust for the 
"Mormon" Church. The bill contemplated the abolition of 
the offices of Territorial Marshal and Attornev General, and 



MODERN GUKl.l- AND (,1 LiJiELLiNE. 243 

the placing of their duties upon the United States Marshal and 
District Attorney. It likewise proposed to repeal all legisla- 
tion inconsistent with itself, and make unlawful the assembling 
of the Legislature or the holding of an election under the au- 
thority of the State of Deseret.* 

The Cullom Bill. — The Cullom Bill, taking its name from 
General Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, was introduced in the 
House of Representatives a few days after the Cragin Bill 
came before the Senate. It was even more radical than its 
twin measure. Having passed the House, it was adopted by 
Mr. Cragin in lieu of his own protege, and presented by him 
in the Senate. The real and avowed author of the Cullom 
Bill was Robert N. Baskin, of Salt Lake City, the human 
mainspring of nearly every "y\nti-Mormon" movement that 
Utah has known. 

Among those who spoke against the measure in Congress 
were Representative Thomas Fitch, of Nevada, and Represen- 
tative Samuel B. Axtell, of California. Both these gentlemen 
afterwards became residents of Utah, Mr. Fitch as a leading 
member of the Bar, and Mr. Axtell as Governor of the Ter- 
ritory. Delegate Hooper made a speech against the Cullom 
Bill on the day that it passed the House. 

In Utah the proposed legislation awoke a storm of indig- 
nant protest, the most notable feature of which was a mass 
meeting of "Mormon" women, held in the Salt Lake Taber- 
nacle, about the middle of January, 1870. Speeches were made 
and resolutions adopted against the pending measure. This 
meeting was but one of many that convened in various parts 
of the Territorv. all protesting against the passage of the 
Cullom Bill. 

Sotue of the "Godbeites" had plural families, and were 
therefore vitally interested in the issue. They, with a number 
of prominent "Gentiles," disfavored certain features of the 
Cullom Bill, and at a meeting where its modification was pro- 
posed, Joseph R. Walker, J. M. Carter, Samuel Kahn, R. H. 
Robertson, Warren N. Hussey, Thomas Marshall and O. J. 
Hollister were apjH)inted a committee to memorialize Congress 

*The State of Deseret here referred to, should not be confounded 
with the Provisional Government of 1849-1851. Its existence was but 
nominal, and dated' only from 1862. The messages of Governor 
Brigham Young were regularly presented to the General Assembly, 
which adopted as its own the laws passed by each session of the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature. The object in view was to have all the necessary 
machinery ready whenever the Territorj' might be admitted into the 
Union as a State. The "Anti-Mormons" charged that the Provisional 
Government which Congress had refused to recognize, was thus de- 
fiantly perpetuated, and the political capital made out of the situation 
finally induced a discontinuance of the theoretical State of Deseret. 



Jll W IHT.\I•;^ 'S l'( )|'l I.AK IMST( )\<\ ( )!•• UTAH. 

to that end. Colonel Hollister, a relative by marriage of Vice 
President Colfax, declined to act, and Bishop Tuttle, of the 
Episcopal Church, took his place upon the x:omniittee. 

Moreover, as stated by Tullidge, the "Godbeite" historian, 
the head of the New Movement went to Washington and dis- 
cussed matters with President Grant, to whom he was intro- 
duced by Vice President Colfax. Mr. Godbe importuned for 
kindly treatment of the "Mormon" people by the General Gov- 
ernment. The President replied that he was as anxious as any- 
one to save the "Mormon" people — save them from their lead- 
ers, and that if more troops were sent to Utah (for such a 
movement was contemplated) they would be designed merely 
as "a moral force," to support the administration of the laws. 
Mr. Godbe also met General Cullom, and placed the situation 
before him in such a light as to cause him to consider less fa- 
vorably the severe measure for which he stood sponsor. Mean- 
while, the Cullom Bill had been referred to the Committee on 
Territories, of which Senator Nye, of Nevada, was chairman. 
That was the last heard of it. It was never reported from the 
committee. 

The Liberal Party. — The Liberal or Independent Party — 
for the latter was its original name — entered upon its actual 
career in February, 1870, when a meeting for' its organization 
was held in the Masonic Hall, Salt Lake City. Eli B. Kelsey, 
"Godbeite" and polygamist, was elected chairman, after which 
speeches were made and plans formulated for the approaching 
municipal election. A ticket was nominated by acclamation. 
Some of the nominees were "Mormons," firm in the faith, 
whose names were expected to draw votes from the ranks of 
the People's Party. The personal popularity of one of the se- 
ceders — Henry W. Lawrence, Independent candidate for 
Mayor — was relied upon to do much in that direction. These 
matters arranged, the meeting adjourned until next evening, 
Februarv 10th, when it re-convened in Walker Brothers' "Old 
Store." ' 

The People's Coup d'Etat. — The Independents held their 
second gathering to ratify the nominations made at the first, 
and the general public was invited to attend. "Come one, 
come all," was the wording of the widely posted placard urging 
the people of Salt Lake City to be present. "The People" mis- 
chievously took them at their word, thronging the hall at an 
early hour and voting in their own chairman and secretary. 
Over the heads of the discomfited and exasperated minority, 
the crowd nominated a full ticket for city officers, heading the 
list with the name of Daniel H. Wells, the People's candidate 
for Mayor, an ofiPice already held by him. The meeting then 
adiourned. 



AlUUi^UX (.UKI.l- AND ( 11 1 HM'JJJN IC. 



245 



This practical joke — for nothing more serious was in- 
tended — might have had a tragic termination. It was certainly 
ill-timed and imprudent, and 
like all such "pleasantries," was 
pleasant only to the perpetra- 
tors. Construed and pro- 
claimed as an act of intoler- 
ance, it could not fail to be 
hurtful to the People's cause. 
Doubtless some of the Inde- 
pendents, even while denounc- 
ing it, were secretly glad of 
its occurrence, being shrewd 
enough to see the advantage 
that it would give them when 
heralded abroad. The actual 
damage done — a few broken 
benches, etc. — was prtMiiptly 
repaired by direction of the 
People's Party leaders. That 
they approved of the incident, 
is altogether improbable. There 
was no further disposition to 
interfere with the new party, 
and their proper ticket was 
duly placed before the public. 

The Salt Lake City Election. — ^The election fell upon the 
14th of February. Two thousand three hundred and one votes 
were cast, of which number the Independent ticket drew about 
three hundred; all the rest going to the People's candidates. 
The leaders of the minority party complained of numerous 
obstacles thrown in the way of those desirous of voting their 
ticket, and of various annoyances to which their challengers 
had been subjected, adding: "Without these, and the existing 
law of the Territory, compelling the numbering and identi- 
fying of each vote — a system practically robbing every citizen 
of his freedom of ballot — the result would have been far dif- 
ferent." They regarded their "commencement in the great 
work of vindicating the rights of free speech, free thought, and 
a free press in this Territory, a promising one." Such was the 
substance of their report to the Tribune. 

The Deseret News stated that all voters cast their ballots 
as they desired, and that the conduct of the election was such 
as to give no just cause for complaint. The News might have 
added that there was no temptation to a contrary course on 
the part of llu- overwhelming majority. The People stood in 
no fear of the Independent vote. The complaint of their oi)- 




HENRY W. L.WVRENCE. 



24h WlllTXl^^'S rul'll.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. ' 

ponents as to "obstacles" and "annoyances" had a basis, more 
apparent than real, in the refusal by Mayor Wells of a request 
from the Chairman of the Independent Committee, J. M. Orr, 
who had asked, just before the election and after all arrange- 
ments had been decided, that one of the judges and one of 
the clerks be chosen from the ranks of the new party. The 
Mayor was not willing to disarrange matters to that extent, 
but assured the Chairman that every protection would be af- 
forded the citizens to vote their respective tickets, without 
])artialit}' or hindrance. 

The Marked Ballot. — The "marked ballot" referred to 
by the minority party, prevented frauds and insured honest 
elections. That, no dou1)t, was its purpose. At the same time 
it afTordcd o])portunity for espionage, if those in charge of the 
election machinery cared to take advantage of it. They could 
know, if they wished, for whom each voter cast his ballot. This 
fact being recognized by the Legislature, the old election law 
was repealed ere long, and the marked ballot superseded by 
the secret ballot. 

The Convention at Corinne. — In this manner arose the 
Li])eral Party of Utah, tlmugh it was not known by that name 
until the following July, when a convention of Independents 
assembled at the "Gentile" City of Corinne. and nominated 
George R. Maxwell for Congress, (ieneral Connor was tem- 
porary chairman of the Convention, and he nominated Max- 
well for Delegate. By formal action of that political gathering, 
the Liberal Party received its name. 

Maxwell Defeated. — Election day was the first of August. 
Over twenty thousand votes were cast for Captain Hooper, 
the People's candidate, and a little over one thousand for the 
Liberal nominee. More than eight hundred of the latter were 
polled at Corinne; Salt Lake City giving less than two hun- 
dred votes to General Maxwell. Nevertheless he contested the 
seat, basing his claim, as Mr. McGrorty had done, upon the 
ground of his opponent's alleged disloyalty. Captain Hooper 
was put to the trouble of refuting many sensational stories, 
after which he was permitted to take his seat in the House of 
Representatives as the duly elected Delegate from the Terri- 
tory of Utah. 



XXI. 

ATTEMPTS AT RECONSTRUCTION. 

1870-1871. 

The Foremost Citizen. — Pirighani Ycnint;', so long as ho 
lived, was the foremost citizen of Utah. Not in an official way, 
but by virtue of his ability and commanding influence. His 
position as President of a Church comprising most of the in- 
habitants of the Territory, gave him much of his prestige, but 
not all. He was by nature a leader of men. with a genius for 
organization and government. Moreover, he possessed strong 
personal magnetism. The "Anti-Mormons" deemed him tyran- 
nical. Not so. the Latter-day Saints. To them he was a 
I*rophet of God. and they revered him accordingly. One fact 
concerning him may }-et be ajjparent to all. Had this great 
pioneer and colonizer — the greatest that America has known — 
ijcen less masterful, or less influential, he cnuld nexcr ha\e 
riCcom])lished the gigantic task that- destiny had laid upim him. 

That some people should dbject to the wielding of so much 
poAver bv a private citizen, was only natural. Federal officers, 
sent to Utah from other parts of the country, felt themselves 
slighted and the Go^"ernment wronged on account of the hom- 
age paid to the founder of the commonwealth. To diminish 
his influence, therefore, they considered a patriotic duty. 

The "War Governor." — Among those bent upon a policy 
of curtailment with reference to the "Mormon" leader, was 
Utah's "War Governor." J. Wilson Shaffer, whose peaceful 
predecessor. Governor Durkce, at the expiration of his official 
term, had left the Territory and was on his way back to Wis- 
consin, when he died at Omaha, Nebraska, late in 186^. 
Shaffer's appointment soon followed, and on the 20th of March 
1870. he arrived at .Salt Lake City. General Shaft'er was a 
native of Pennsylx ania, Imt had been for many years a resident 
of Illinois. During the Civil War he was General Butler's 
chief of staff', serving his country with courage and fidelity. 
He was now in bis forty-third year, an invalid slowly dying, 
but a man rW' iron will, aggressive and determined. He looked 
upon Utah as he bacl looked upon the rebelliotis Southern 
States. Here as well as there, he thought, there was need of 
"rec(Tnstruction." "Xexer, after me," he exclaimed, upon re- 
ceiving his api:>ointmenl. "shall it be said that P»righani ^'oung 
is Governor of Utah." 

Shaffer's Associates. ( ioxernor Shaffer's associates in this 
TcrritorN' were mostl\-. if not all. outside the "Mormon" com- 



248 WHn XEV'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



niunity. l^ruc, he accepted, soon after his arrival from the 
F.ast, an invitation from President Young to attend the Latter- 
day Saints' Annual Conference, 
which was held that year in 
May, instead of April, the usual 
month of its occurrence. He 
was present on the stand at one 
of the meetings in the Taber- 
nacle, but did not address the 
congregation, though invited to 
do so. Holding aloof from those 
representing the great majority 
of the people, he affiliated al- 
most exclusively with their 
political and religious oppo- 
nents.* 

"Godbeite" Influence. — Ac- 
cording to Tullidge, the "God- 
beites" used their influence 
with Governor Shaflfer, as they 
had previously used it with 
President Grant, in behalf of 
their former co-religionists. 
That writer relates a conversa- 
tion in which Eli B. Kelsey laid 
his case and that of other polygamists before the Governor, 
showing that if harsh measures were employed in dealing with 
plural marriage, much suffering would result, especially to 
plural wives and their children, the class who, in popular be- 
lief, were to be most benefited by the proposed change. "Gov- 
ernor," said Kelsey, "before I will forsake my wives and bas- 
tardize my children, I will fight the United States down to my 
boots. What would you do, if you were in my place?" 
ShaiTer was silent for a few moments, during which he paced 
hie room thoughtfully. He then responded: "By G — , Mr. 
Kelsey, were I in your place, T would do the same." 




GOVERNOR SHAFFER. 



*The Governor's headquarters were at the Revere House, where 
lie literallj^ "fell among thieves;" though that, of course, was not from 
choice. The proprietor of the hotel, William H. McKay, turned out 
to be a mail robber. In company with two other men — St. Ledger, a 
transient, and one Heath, a former U. S. soldier, he waylaid the stage 
coach from Pioche. Nevada, between Levan and Nephi. Utah, on the 
night of October 23. 1870. and robbed Wells Fargo Company's treasure 
box of about fifteen hundred dollars. Sheriff Cazier. of Juab County, 
organized a posse and captured the robbers next day. recovering from 
them all the stolen money. St. Ledger turned state's evidence and 
secured his release: Heath escaped: but McKay was convicted in the 
r)istrict Court and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. This was 
the first mail coach robbcrv in Utah. 



ATTEi\IP'l\S AT RECONSTRUCTION. 249 

Woman's Suffrage — Acting Governor Mann. — A source of 
annoyance to the new Executive was an act of the Legislative 
Assembly giving the women of the Territory the elective fran- 
chise. Wyoming had recently adopted Woman's Suffrage, and 
Utah was a close second in conferring upon her daughters this 
important privilege. It was the answer of the "Mormon" men 
to the charge that the "Mormon" women were downtrodden 
and held in subjection. The measure had been approved by 
Secretary S. A. Mann, as Acting Governor, on the 12th of 
February, several weeks before Shaffer arrived at Salt Lake 
City. The Governor and his advisers feared that the woman 
vote would strengthen "The Mormon Power;" and they there- 
fore regarded the granting of the franchise as a move in the 
wrong direction. Through their influence Secretary Mann 
was removed from office; Vernon H. V'aughn, of Alabama, 
being appointed in his stead. Mr. Mann, who was from New 
York, and had been Secretary of Utah since May, 1869, re- 
mained to practice law at Salt Lake City. 

Chief Justice Wilson. — Another retirement, through sim- 
ilar causes, was that of Chief Justice Charles C. Wilson, who, 
since September, 1868, when he arrived from Illinois, had been 
presiding over the Third District Court. His alleged offense 
was the exercise of too much leniency in the matter of ad- 
mitting "Mormon" aliens to citizenship. Moreover, he had 
incurred the ill will of Governor Shaffer. There had been 
some disagreement between the Governor and the Probate 
Judges, and the latter appealed to Wilson for advice. He in- 
. structed them to disregard Shaffer's rules and consult the law 
as to their duties. "Whereupon," said the Chief Justice, in a 
newspaper account of the affair, "he swore to remove me, and 
removed I am." This was in July. 1870. the same month that 
Secretarv Mann went out of office.* 



♦According to the Salt Lake Herald, the Governor had refused 
to commission certain officers elected by the Legislature, and the ques- 
tion of forcing his action with a writ of mandamus was under con- 
sideration. Shafifer asked Wilson if he would issue such a writ. The 
Judge replied that he would if a case were made out. The Governor 
then said: "Well. I like that!"— which meant, of course, that he did 
not like it— "I am sent here to regulate things, and T am to be con- 
trolled by a judge." "I beg pardon, Governor." answered the Chief 
Justice, "it strikes me that you are to be controlled by law." 

Don^ Piatt, Washington correspondent of "The Cincinnati Com- 
mercial." was present at an interview when President Grant gave as 
the reason for Judge Wilson's removal that "Governor Shafifer wished 
it." Another account is to the effect that Wilson's friends, upon in- 
quiring as to the cause of his displacement, were told by President 
Grant that "General Shaffer's staff mu:t be a unit." See Roberts' 
History of the Mormon Church, ".Americana" for August, 1914, p. 681, 
notes .1 and 4, also p. 68R. 



250 W 1HT.\I':\'S I'Ol'lLAU lllSTURV UF UTAH. 



they had an\th 



A New Military Post. — Preliminary to the sending of ad- 
ditional troops to Utah, (iencral Sheridan made a special visit 
to the Territory, for the purpose of founding a new military 
post. "Do nothing without consulting Mr. Godbe and his 
friends," President (Irant is said to ha\'e enjoined upon the 
General, when the latter set out for Salt Lake City. Accord- 
ingly Sheridan met with the leaders of the New Movement im- 
mediately after his arri\al. it cloes not appear, however, that 

with locating the military post, 
a site for which had been se- 
lected by General Augur, Com- 
mander of the Department of 
the Platte, a short time before. 
It was about three miles north- 
Avest from Provo, l)etween the 
Bench and Utah Lake. There 
Camp Rawlins, named after the 
Secretary of War, was founded 
in April.' 1870. At first it was 
occupied l)y a detachment of 
troops from Camp Douglas, but 
these were soon withdrawn and 
several companies from the 
East stationed there. 

The Pratt-Newman Dis- 
cussion. — During the summer 
of that year, an event of un- 
usual interest occurred at the 
Utah capital, and for several 
days held the attention of the 
country at large. It was a debate between Dr. John P. New- 
man, Chaplain of the United States Senate, and Elder Orson 
Pratt, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints, upon the question, "Does the Bible Sanc- 
tion Polygamy?" Dr. Newman, who was Pastor of the 
Metropolitan Methodist Church in Washington, had preached 
against polygamy before President Grant and other leading- 
men, while Congress was considering the Cullom Bill. His 
sermon was published in the New York Herald, and replied to 
by Elder Pratt ; parts of the controversy being republished in 
the Deseret News. Edward L. Sloan, acting editor of the 
S;dt Lake Dail\- Telegraph, which had passed into non-"Mor- 
mon" hands and was about to suspend publication, suggested 
in one of the issues of that paper that Dr. Newman was wast- 
\v.<^ his annnunition by i)reaching against plural marriage in 
Washington, and iniLilU better come to Utah and discuss the 
c|ncstioii in puMit- with ( )rson Pratt or some other prominent 




GENERAL SHERIDAN. 



AI'Tl'MI'TS A'l" kl-:C()XS'I^KUCT10N. 251 

"Mormon." in the largest hall available. This banter, Dr. 
Newman construed as a challenge from l;>righam Young, to 
discuss polygamy with him in the great Tabernacle. Accord- 
ingly he came, accompanied by Reverend Dr. Sunderland, and 
was much chagrined. u])()n arriving, to learn that President 
Young had given no such challenge and did not intend to de- 
bate with him. A spirited interchange of letters followed, and 
it was then arranged that a discussion should take place in the 
Tabernacle, but with Orson Pratt as the "Mormon" champion. 

"Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?" — The Pratt-New- 
nian discussidn began at 2 ]). m., on I'riday the 12th of August, 
and continued during the two succeeding afternoons. Three 
umpires presided, though only to preserve order and insure fair 
p1av ; it being understood that no decision would be rendered. 
The umpires were Judge Zerubbabel Snow — chosen by Elder 
Pratt; Associate Justice Cyrus M. Hawley — selected by Dr. 
Xtwman ; and United States Marshal M. T. Patrick, who was 
agreed upon by the other umpires. Immense throngs attended 
the debate, which was continued in the newspapers for some- 
time afterwards. 

As a matter of course, public opinion was divide over the 
result. Roth men were learned; and Xewman was the more 
eloquent; but Pratt proved to he the better logician. As a 
scriptorian he was equal, and as a Hebrew scholar superior, to 
Ivs opponent. Leading" American newspapers expressed the 
view that the Chaplain of the Senate was "out of his depth in 
the discussion." and that someone "carrying more guns than 
Dr. Newman" would "have to be sent out missionarying among 
the Mormons." The Philadelphia Press conceded to Elder 
Pratt "a most efifective argument." and declared that force 
alone could settle the "Alurmon" question. 

Governor Shaffer and the Nauvoo Legion. — Governor 
Sbafifer. as stated, had determined to limit what he considered 
the abnormal power wielded by Citizen Brigham Young. Gen- 
eral Babcock. in reporting to Secretary of War Stanton (Octo- 
ber 1866). had represented that the Utah Militia, instead of be- 
ing under the control of the Governor, was under the authorit\' 
of the Church or Brigham Young; and President Eincoln 
seems to have been under a like impression when, in April 
1862. he called upon the Ex-Governor for a companv of ca\- 
airv. to guard the Overland Route. Next to the Governor. 
I.ieutenant-General Wells was the chief militia officer, and he. 
being Brigham Young's second counselor in the Eirst Pres-- 
dencv. was looked upon as one with the head of the Church. 
To lessen the power of General ^^'ells, therefore, was to di- 
minish the ])o\\er of President ^'oung. .^o reasoned "The 
War Governor." 



2--2 WHITNEY'S PUl'LLAU HISTORY OF UTAH. 

General Wells, on the 16th of August, 1870, ordered the 
usual fall musters of "The Nauvoo Legion" — as the militia 
was still titled — to be held in the various military districts, 
not later than the first of November. Governor Shafifer was 
absent from the Territory when this order was issued, but 
immediately upon his return he countermanded it, forbidding 
the militia to muster or train without orders from the Gov- 
ernor or the United States Marshal. By proclamation dated 
September 15th he a])]KMnted P. E. Connor Major General, 
and William N. Johns Colonel and Assistant Adjutant Gen- 
eral, and directed that all arms and munitions belonging to the 
'jcrritory or to the United States then in possession of the 
militia, be delivered to the last-named officer without delay. 

General Wells wrote to Governor Shaffer, requesting a 
suspension of the order prohibiting the musters until Novem- 
ber 20th, so as to enable Adjutant General Clawson to make a 
complete report of the militia and fully comply with the terms 
of the proclamation respecting the delivery of arms and mu- 
nitions. The Governor, however, refused to modify his order. 
He answered General ^^^ells as follows: 

Governor Shafifer to General Wells. — 

"Executive Department, Utah Territory, 

Salt Lake City, October 27, 1870. 
Daniel H.' Wells, Esq. 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica- 
tion of yesterdaj, in which you sign youiself "Lieutenant-General com- 
manding the militia of Utah Territory." As the laws of the United 
States orovide for but one Lieutenant-General, and as the incumbent 
of that office is the distinguished Philip PL Sheridan, I shall certainly 
be pardoned for recognizing no other. 

In your communication you addressed me as "Commander-in- 
Chief of the militia of Utah Territory." It is now twenty years since 
the act to organize this Territory was passed by the Congress of the 
United States, and, so far as I am informed, this is the first instance 
in which you, or any of your predecessors, in the pretended office 
which you assume to hold, have recognized the Governor of this Ter- 
ritory to be, as the Organic Act makes him, the Commander-in-Chief, 
etc. My predecessors have been contemptuously ignored, or boldly 
defied. I congratulate you and the loyal people here, and elsewhere, 
on the significant change in your conduct. 

You do me the honor to ask me to suspend the operation of my 
proclamation of September 15th, 1870, prohibiting all musters, drills, 
etc. In other words, you ask me to recognize an unlawful military 
system, which was originally organized in Nauvoo, in the State of 
Illinois, and which has existed here without authority of the United 
States, and in defiance of the Federal officials. 

You say: "Whereas, to stop the musters now, neither the terms of 
the proclamation, the laws of the Territory, nor the laws of Congress, 
etc., could be complied with." That is, my proclamation cannot be 
carried out unless I let you violate it. Laws of the Territory whicli 
conflict with the laws of Congress unisl fall to the ground unless 1 
permit you to uphold them, and the laws of Congress cannot be com- 



A iri'iMI'IS AT UIXONSTkUCnON. 253 

plied with unless I will let you interpret and nullify them! To state 
the proposition is to answer it. 

Mr. Wells, you know as well as I do, that the people of this Ter- 
ritory, most of whom were foreign-born, and are ill-acquainted with 
our institutions, have been taught to regard certain private citizens 
here as superior in authority not only to the Federal officials here, 
but also in Washington. Even since my proclamation was issued, and 
on a public occasion, and in presence of many thousands of his fol- 
lowers, Brigham Young, who claims to be, and is called, "President," 
denounced the Federal officials of this Territory with bitter vehemence, 
and on a like occasion, about the same time, and in his (Young's) pres- 
ence, one of his most conspicuous followers declared that Congress 
had no right whatever to pass an organic act for this Territory; that 
such was a relic of colonial barbarism, and that not one of the Federal 
officials had any right to come to, or remain in, this Territory. 

Mr. Wells, you ask me to take a course which, in efifect, would aid 
you and your turbulent associates to further convince your followers 
that you and your associates are more powerful than the Federal Gov- 
ernment. I must decline. 

To suspend the operation of niv proclamation now, would be a 
greater dereliction of my duty than not to have issued it. 

Without authority from me you issued an order in your assumed 
capacity of lieutenant-general, etc., calling out the militia of this Ter- 
ritory to muster, and now you virtually ask me to ratify your act. 

Sir, I will not do anything in satisfaction of your officious and 
unwarranted assumption. 

By the provisions of the Organic Act, the Governor is made the 
commander-in-chief of the militia of the Territory, and, sir, as long as 
I continue to hold that office, a force so important as that of the militia 
shall not be wielded or controlled in disregard of my authority, which, 
by law, and by my obligation, it is my plain duty not only to assert, 
bat, if possible, to maintain. 

I hope the above is sufficiencly explicit to be fully imderstood, and 
to supersede the necessity of any further communication on the sub- 
ject. 

I have the honor to be, etc., 

(Signed) J. W. SHAFFER, 

Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Utah Territory." 

General Wells to Governor Shaffer. — Tn "An Open Letter 
to Governor Shaffer," published in the Deseret News. General 
Wells presented the following- points of reply: 

1. The law of Congress providing for one Lieutenant- 
General also provides for five Major Generals and eight Brig- 
adier Generals. Does the Governor mean to imply that these 
positions in the regular army preclude the recognition of Major 
Generals and Brigadier Generals of militia in anv of the States 
or Territories? 

2. Other laws of Congress limit the number of Assistant 
Adjutant-Generals, and forbid new appointments, until further 
notice, in the Adjutant General's Department. These laws also 
provide for the election by the people of all general militia of- 
ficers in the Territories, in such manner as the respective Leg- 
islatures shall provide. Tf these are the onlv laws of Congress 



254 W liil'XEVS I'ol'lLAK [IISTURV Ui' UTAH. 

that obtain in Utah, how can Governor Shaffer reconcile with 
them his appointment of a Major General and an Assistant 
Adjutant General of militia by proclamation? 

3. The ofifice of Lieutenant (General in this Territory is 
not a "pretended office," as Governor Shaffer's defective infor- 
mation has made him believe, but an office created by the Utah 
Legislature in February, 1852, and not transported from Illi- 
nois, as erroneoush- asserted. Moreover, General Wells has 
never had any "predecessor" in this office since the organiza- 
tion of the Territory. 

4. Governor Shaffer is either "strangely ignorant" or he 
"wilfully misrepresents," when he declares that this is the "first 
instance" in which General Wells has recognized the Gov- 
ernor of Utah as Commander-in-Chief of the Territorial Mili- 
tia. For eight years he recognized Governor Brigham Young 
in that capacity, and has recognized all succeeding Governors 
in the same way. Furthermore, they have recognized him as 
Lieutenant General, and he has been acknowledged as such in 
all official correspondence with officers of the regular army, 
and by Federal officers in and out of the Territory. Governor 
Shaffer stands distinguished as the first who, in reply to a 
respectful communication, has so far forgotten what is due 
from a man holding his position as to ignore the common cour- 
tesies always extended between gentlemen. 

General Wells went on to say that he had requested the 
temporary suspension of the decree forbidding the musters, in 
order that complete returns of the militia might be made in 
accordance with an Act of Congress, approved March 20. 
1803. How this could be construed as an attempt to "nullify" 
the laws of Congress escaped his penetration. It appeared to 
him that Governor Shaffer's proclamation was calculated to 
produce that result. As for the alleged conflict between the 
laws of the Territory and the acts of Congress, that was mere 
assertion, incapable of proof. 

In allusion to what had been said in public meetings. 
General Wells declared that public officers were supposed to 
be public property, so far as their official acts were concerned, 
and subject to the scrutiny of the people. "Every man under 
our Government," said he, "has the right to free speech, and 
to express his opinions concerning the acts of public officers — 
a right, moreover, which is generally indulged in bv all parties. 
I am not aware that President Brigham Young has 'denotmced 
the Federal officials of this Territory with bitter vehemence.' 
or that if he has, I am responsible therefor, or that I shouM 
be held respconsible for the opinion of anv other gentleman in 
regard to the power of Congress to organize a Territorial Gov 
ernment." 



ATTI'MITS A r KiauNSTKUCTKjN. Ibb 

In conclusion the (General said: "I am of the opinion that 
the people of the Territory, according to the Constitution, have 
the right to l)ear arms; that the Legislative Assembly had the 
right to organize the militia; that Congress had the right to 
declare that the general officers should be elected by the 
people, in such manner as the respective legislatures of the 
States and Territories may provide by law; that the Gover- 
nors of the States and Territories are the commanders-in-chief 
of the militia, the same as the President of the United States 
is commander-in-chief of the armies and navies of the United 
States, with Generals and Admirals under him commanding; 
that the military organization of our Territory follows that of 
the Federal Gcn-ernment more closely, perhaps, than that of 
any other Territory or State in the Union ; and that Governors 
and Commander-in-Chiefs are as much creatures of law as any 
other officers, and while they exercise a higher jurisdiction, 
thev are as amenable to law as the humblest officer or citi- 
zen/' 

A Military Riot. — Governor ShalTer still refusing to sus- 
pend the operations of his order, General Wells directed that 
the military musters be postponed. Meantime a most unpleas- 
ant incident had occurred, for which some of the newly ar- 
rived Federal troops were responsible. Just one week after 
the issuance of the proclamation disarming and disbanding the 
militia^ — for that was the ultimate effect of the Governor's de- 
cree — a party of drunken soldiers, forty in number, raided the 
town of Provo by night, destroying property, breaking into 
houses, and abusing citizens. The rioters, who were from the 
neighboring military post, had needle guns, bayonets and re- 
volvers, and did not hesitate to use them. The marauding 
continued until a body of citizens, arming themselves, pursued 
the peace disturbers. A few shots were fired, and the riot was 
quelled without bloodshed. The provocation for the outbreak 
was a refusal on the part of some of the citizens to sell liquor 
to these soldiers or rent to them their dancing halls. 

Shaffer and De Trobriand. — The affair at Provo was much 
regretted by the military authorities, particularly by Major 
Osborne, the officer in charge at Camp Rawlins. Governor 
Shaffer likewise deplored it, all the more since it enabled the 
citizens to complain of and satirize the "moral force" which 
had been sent to assist him in maintaining law and order in 
this supposedly turbulent Territory. The Governor endeav- 
ored to place responsibilit\- for the trouble upon General De 
Trobriand, the commander at Camp Douglas, who was in 
no way to blame for what had happened ; the soldiers at Camp 
Rawlins not being under his command. It was suspected that 
ihe real cause of the Governor's attitude toward De Trobriand, 



250 Will r\l':\"'S I'Ol'll.AU MIS1'()1<\' ol- UTAH. 



was the latter's friendly social affiliations with some of the 
prominent "Mormons ;" conduct quite out of harmony with 
the exclusive policy of the Executive. A heated corre- 
spondence between Shaffer and De Trobriand found its way 
into the public prints, and occasioned much comment in and 
out of Utah. 

The Rioters Court-Martialed. — The Camp Douglas com- 
mander, acting- under special instructions from General Augur 
at Omaha, investigated the Provo riot, meeting for that pur- 
pose with Major Osborne and leading citizens of that town, in 
the latter part of September. Concurrently with a civic inves- 
tigation, a court martial inquiry was held at Camp Rawlins. 
Major Osborne, and subsequently General De Trobriand, of- 
fered to turn over to the civil authorities, for trial and pun- 
ishment, the men implicated in 
the disturbance. But the City 
Marshal declined to receive 
them, giving as his reason that 
a recent ruling by one of the 
Federal Judges had withdrawn 
criminal cases from the juris- 
diction of the Probate Courts, 
and it was therefore likely that 
if he (the Marshal) took charge 
of the prisoners they would 
soon be released on a writ of 
habeas corpus, issued from the 
District Court. 

Subsequently there was an 
investigation of the riot at the 
lieadquartersof the Department 
of the Platte, and the responsi- 
bility for the affair was placed 
upon the officers and soldiers 
of those companies that were 
present for duty at that date. 
The amount of damages fixed 
upon by the Mayor of Provo, 
was ordered to be paid to the 
injured parties without delay; and this was done. 

General Sherman's Visit. — Early in October Utah was 
honored with a visit from General Sherman, the Chief Com- 
mander of the United States Army. The eminent soldier, ac- 
companied by his daughter, and by General Schofield and 
other military officers, was returning from a tour through Cal- 
ifornia and Oregon. The party registered at the Townsend 
House, and during their stav had a very sociable interview 




GENERAL SHERMAN. 



A rri':Aii'rs at Ri-xoNsiRUcriuN. 



1:^/ 



with President Young and other Church leaders, at the Pres- 
ident's Oflicc. One evening, while Sherman was still at Salt 
Lake City, he was serenaded by the Parowan Choir, which hap- 
pened to be in town, attending the Semi-Annual Conference. 
The war-worn veteran had been serenaded the same evening 
by the Camp Douglas Band, and had then declined to address 
the throng that gathered in front of the hotel, clamoring for a 
speech. But he could not resist the sweet singers whose music 
touched his heart, especially when they sang, "Hard Times. 
Come Again No More." In a feeling response the General 
thanked the Choir in happy 
vein, and expressed the hope 
that the good people of Utah 
might long enjoy the homes 
they had created in the wilder- 
ness, and that for them, indeed, 
"hard times" might "come 
again no more." 

Death of Governor Shaf- 
fer. — Governor Shaffer died on 
the last day of that month. His 
wife had recently passed away 
at their old home in Illinois, 
and this grief doubtless has- 
tened his end. All due honor 
was paid to the deceased, and 
to the authority that he repre- 
sented. On "Mormon" and 
"Gentile" buildings alike, flags 
were hung at half mast. After 
the funeral, which was con- 
ducted by Reverend G. M. 
Pierce, at the Executive resi- 
dence, the remains were escorted by the Masonic Fraternity, 
by Camp Douglas troops, and by Federal, Territorial and City 
officers, to the Utah Central Railroad station, where they were 
consigned to Freeport, Illinois, for interment. 

Governor Vaughan. — The same afternoon a dispatch from 
Washington announced the appointment of Vernon H. 
Vaughan as Governor of Utah, with George A. Black as Sec- 
retary of the Territory. Mr. Vaughan had held the latter of- 
fice under Governor Shaffer, and Mr. Black had been the Gov- 
ernor's private secretary. Both were young men of limited 
experience. 

The Wooden Gun Rebellion. — About the time that the 
military musters would have taken place had they not been 
prohibited, a hundred or more Salt Pake militiamen, some of 
them carrying wooden guns, held a drill on the Twentieth 




G0\ERX0R VAUGHAN. 



16 



J3.S W lirrXl'.N^ I'ol'l'I.AK MIS loin' Oi< utaii. 



Ward Sciuare, ntar the site til ihe present Lowell Schoul. Gov- 
ernor V^augiian was al)sent, ])ul Secretary Black, acting- in his 
stead, liad eight of the officers arrested and taken before Asso- 
ciate Justice Hawley, who, after a hearing, bound them over 
to await the action of the Grand Jury. These officers were 
Andrew Burt, Charles R. Savage, William G. Phillips, James 
Fennamore, Charles Livingston, George M. Ottinger, Archi- 
bald Livingston, and John C. Graham. Declining to give 
l)onds, they were placed in charge of the military authorities 
at Camp Douglas. They were kindly treated; Colonel Henry 
A. Morrow, in temporary charge during the absence of General 
De Trobriand. allowing" them the freedom of the Camp. The 
failure of the Grand Jur_y to indict them ended the, episode 
known as "The Wooden Gun Rebellion." 

Governor Woods. — Governor Yaughan's tentire of office 

was very brief, extending only 
from October, 1870, to January, 
187L It had been understood 
at the time of his appointment 
that it was only to fill an inter- 
regnum, while President Grant 
was making up his mind upon 
a more suitable person for the 
place. Among those mentioned 
in this connection were Col- 
onel O. J. Hollister and General 
P. E. Connor; but neither of 
them was chosen. The appoint- 
ment went to George L. 
Woods, a Missourian by birth, 
who had just completed a four 
years' term as Governor of Or- 
egon. He was appointed in 
January, and took the oath of 
office in March. 

Council and Committee 
Disagree. — In the summer of 
1871, Salt Lake City proposed 
to celebrate, with more than usual "pomp and circumstance," 
the Nation's birthday. Accordingly a committee representing 
all classes of citizens was appointed by the City Council for 
that purpose. Another committee, representing the "Gentiles" 
and their affiliations, purposed holding a separate celebration. 
Lfforts were put forth for a joint observance, as in past years, 
but not until both committees had gone to work with a will, 
and preparations were in a forward state. The "Gentiles" were 
willing to coalesce under a new arrangement, and make over- 



m^i^ 


S^fr 


\ 





GOVERNOR WOODS. 



A'r'n<:M I'Ts at ri<:c"( )NS'rRucTioN. 259 

tures to that end ; but the City Authorities did not see their 
way clear to cancel what had been done, and deemins^- their 
non-partisan committee amply able to manage the affair in 
the interest of all the citizens, they declined to make any 
change. Whereat there was hot resentment in the opposite 
camp. The "Mormon City Council" was charged with "acting 
upon their old principle of participating in nothing unless they 
can be masters and" dictators of the whole affair," and an ap- 
peal was issued to the miners in the adjacent camps to come 
in and help along the "Gentile" observance of Independence 
Day. 

Acting Governor Black's Proclamation. — General Daniel 
II. Wells, at the request of the Municipal Committee, or- 
dered out a few companies of militia to assist in the cele- 
bration. Governor Woods, the chairman of the other com- 
mittee, was then in the East, and Secretary Black, who had 
been re-appointed, was once more Acting Governor. He, in 
pursuance of the policy inaugurated by Governor Shaffer, is- 
sued a proclamation on the last day of June, forbidding all per- 
sons in Utah to take part in any military drill, muster, or 
parade, until so ordered by the Governor. Black was so much' 
in earnest that he called upon the commander at Camp Doug- 
las to enforce with troops his decree against the militia com- 
panies that were preparing to parade on the Fourth of July. 
De Trobriand informed the Acting Governor that his command 
would be in readiness up to the point of presenting arms, but 
the word to "fire" he would not give ; Black must do that him- 
self. The matter was pressed no further. The companies 
called out by General Wells marched in line, but were not un- 
der arms, and the soldiers who came down from the post were 
present only as spectators. There was no collision on Inde- 
pendence Day. 

Two Celebrations. — The observance of the national holi- 
day was carried through to a finish, both celebrations being 
very creditable. The one managed by the Municipal Commit- 
tee was much the larger, and consequently more imposing. 
After the procession, exercises were held in the Tabernacle, 
where Chaplain Orson Pratt, in an earnest invocation, be- 
sought the Almighty that "the whole of this vast continent, 
from the North Pole even to the uttermost extremity of South 
America," might "come under the dominion of Freedom" and 
"the rule of this great Republic." David McKenzie read the 
Declaration of Independence, and speeches followed from 
George Q. Cannon and lohn T. Caine ("Mormons"), and from 
Alexander Majors and Thomas Fitch ("Gentiles"). The other 
celebration presented some original features, mostly due to 
the miners, who had responded enthusiastically to the appeal 



260 \\iii'r\i':\-\s roi'iLAK iiisroRv of utah. 

of the "Gentile" Committee. In the pageant, as it moved 
toward the Liberal Institute, wagons with displays of ore and 
bullion were seen, probably for the first time in Utah. T. A. 
Lyne, the veteran actor, read the immortal Declaration, and 
addresses were delivered by Amasa M. Lyman, Colonel Joce- 
lyn, William S. Godbe, Judge Toohy, E. L. T. Harrison, and 
Major Hempstead — all "Gentiles" or ex-"Mormons." 

The Liberal Coalition. — The coalition between "Gentiles" 
and "Godbeites" had as its avowed object a reform in Utah 
politics. The Liberals, or a considerable element among them, 
hoped by conservative and careful action not only to enlist all 
citizens outside the People's Party under their leadership, but 
likewise to draw largely from the ranks of that organization. 
In August, 1871, there was to be an election for members of 
the Legislature, and while there was no likelihood that 
the coalition would win, its leaders were hopeful of polling a 
vote large enough to surprise their opponents. The contest 
was practically limited to the legislative council district com- 
prising Salt Lake, Tooele, and Summit counties. On the Lib- 
eral ticket were J. Robinson Walker, Samuel Kahn, Wells 
Spicer, and C. C. Beckwith. The People's candidates were Wil- 
ford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, Joseph A. Young, and Wil- 
liam Jennings. 

Radicals and Conservatives. — A ratification meeting was 
held in the Liberal Institute on the 22nd of July. The audi- 
ence included representatives of all classes; it having been in- 
timated that "Anti-Mormonism" would be barred from the pro- 
ceedings. Governor Woods presided and made a preliminary 
address. He refrained from discussing local politics, but ex- 
pressed a wish to add to the prosperity of the Territory. He 
then introduced General Maxwell, who stirred up the meeting 
with a violent "Anti-Mormon" harangue. His assertion that 
the Liberal Party had brought "supremacy of law and safety 
of life and property," and his attack upon past political man- 
agement in Utah, were loudly cheered; but when he denounced 
polygamy and all who practiced it, the reception given to his 
harsh expressions soon made him aware of the blunder he was 
committing toward some of his own partisans. Endeavoring 
to retrieve his error, he ruffled still further the feelings of 
Godbe, Kelsey, and other leaders of the coalition. 

After Maxwell closed, there were loud calls for "Toohy" 
— Judge Dennis J. Toohy, of Corinne. He, failing to profit by 
the experience of the former speaker, began his tirade as fol- 
lows: "Llere in Utah sensuality and crime have found a con- 
genial home ; here immorality has been lifted up where virtue 
ought to reign." In the midst of a most abusive attack upon 
the "Mormon" Church, he began to eulogize the Catholic 



ATTEMPTS AT RECONSTRUCTION. 261 

Church, whereupon he was called to order by Edward W. 
Tullidge, who demanded that he confine himself to political 
issues, and not obtrude his religious views upon the audience. 

Tullidge, after Toohy had taken his seat, mounted the 
rostrum and spoke his mind still further, stating- that he was 
as much opposed to the theocracy of Rome as to that of Salt 
Lake, and between the Pope and Brigham Young, could not 
see "difference enough to split." etc. Cheers and hisses fol- 
lowed this remark, and Kelsey then took the platform. He con- 
.sidercd himself insulted by the speeches of Maxwell and Toohy 
and defended the "Mormon" people against the assaults made 
upon them. Avowing himself a polygamist, and declaring that 
he would sacrifice his life rather than repudiate his wives and 
children, he hurled back the epithet "hogs," which Toohy had 
applied to men of his class. The meeting was now in an up- 
roar, but Governor Woods, with a few timely remarks, suc- 
ceeded in restoring order, and paving the way to a self-con- 
trolled if not peaceful adjournment. 

In a letter to the Tribune, a day or two later, Mr. Kelsey 
thus expressed himself: "The small but active element that 
seeks control of the Liberal Party is filled with bitterness, and 
would fain inaugurate a social and religious war upon the peo- 
ple of this Territory. * * * ]v^q party which harbors de- 
signs against the peace and welfare of the people of Utah shall 
ever have my co-operation." 

The Tribune as Peacemaker. — The Tribune attempted 
to oil the troubled waters. Said that paper editorially : "The 
Liberal Party of Utah has a noble mission — one worthy of 
the best efforts of the best men of the Territory. * * * * 
Narrowness, uncharitableness, bitterness, and prejudice should 
be banished from the part}^ councils, and denied a hearing in 
the public meetings. * * * "We can oppose the union of 
Church and State without stopping to quarrel about church 
doctrines. Polygamy is a social if not a religious institution 
of the Territory, and it is established in such a manner that 
it cannot be suddenly extirpated. Neither is there any ne- 
cessity for such violent measures. It is an institution which, 
if let alone, will die of itself, for the simple reason that it is 
not in harmony with its present surroundings. It needs no op- 
position. On the contrary, persecution will but serve to pro- 
long its life. Having the good of the Liberal Party at heart, 
and ardently desiring its success, we here protest against the 
attempt some weak, misguided men are making to force this 
political organization into a raid on the domestic institutions 
of the Territory, an olijeot entirely foreign to its original de- 
sign and the present desire of nine-tenths of those who or- 
ganized and now compose the Liberal Party of Utah. 1 ho 



262 WlilTNEVS i'Ol'LI.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

party has legitimately nothing to do with social questions, and 
with religious questions nothing further than to oppose the 
union of priestly with political rule." 

End of the Coalition. — All to no purpose. The coalition 
was at an end. "An utter failure"— such was its epitaph, writ- 
ten by one of its own supporters. The Salt Lake Herald de- 
clared the Liberal Party dead, "disembowelled by its own 
hands." This conclusion, however, was premature. The Lib- 
eral Party continued its career, but the "Godbeites" had little 
to do with it thenceforth in the matter of shaping its destiny ; 
their moderate policies being overwhelmed by the pronounced 
"Anti-Mormon" spirit of the organization. For a time the 
names of Godbe and Harrison remained at the head of the 
Tribune columns, and Tullidge continued upon the paper as 
an editorial writer. But its managing editor was Oscar G. 
Sawyer, who had previously been connected with the New 
York Herald stafif. From April 15, 1871. when the T>iberal 
organ was rechristened "The Salt Lake Tribune," it was issued 
as a daily paper. The change of title was followed by a change 
of tone; the Tribune abandoning its conservative policy and 
beginning a fierce warfare upon the "Mormon" Church.* 

*Prior to his connection with the Tribune, Mr. Sawyer had suc- 
ceeded Colonel Findley Anderson as the New York Herald's special 
correspondent in Utah. Colonel Anderson reported the Pratt-New- 
nian discussion for that great journal. Another special correspondent 
in the Territory about that time, was the afterwards famous humorist. 
Bill Nye. 



XXII. 
JUDGE McKEAN AND HIS "MISSION." 

1870-1872. 

"Anti-Mormonism" in Power. — The removal from office of 
Chief Justice Wilson and Secretary Mann indicated something 
of the policy of the National Administration toward Utah. 
Those officials were displaced for their conservatism in the 
face of radical conditions that were deemed necessary to a 
proper solution of "The Mormon Problem." Their independ- 
ent course was construed as semi-subserviency to the power 
against which the Federal Government, through its local rep- 
resentatives, had arrayed itself. They were denominated "Jack- 
Mormons" — an epithet borrowed from the politics of Illinois. 
and bestowed upon all "Gentiles" suspected of cherishing any- 
thing in the nature of a friendly feeling toward the followers 
of Joseph Smith. 

"The Ring."— At the fore-front of the "Anti-Mormon" 
party stood a combination known as "The Ring," composed of 
Federal ofifice-holders and others equally hostile to the so- 
called "Dominant Church." This combination, in some re- 
spects, was all powerful. They had but to ask and they re- 
ceived from Washington whatever was considered essential 
to their success as "reconstructionists." It was a request from 
them that caused the removal of the conservative Judge and 
Secretary; and there is little doubt that the transfer of General 
De Trobriand from Camp Douglas to another military post, a 
few months later, resulted from like influences exerted against 
him at the seat of Government. Circumstances placed at the 
head of this puissant combination. Judge Wilson's successor. 
Chief Justice James B. McKean. 

Chief Justice McKean. — Judge McKean received his ap- 
pointment to the Utah Bench in July, 1870, and arrived at Salt 
Lake City on the last day of August. He was a native of Ver- 
mont, had been a colonel of volunteers during the Civil War. 
and at the time of receiving his Western appointment was 
practicing law in New York City. A scholarly gentleman, 
though not a great jurist, he was pure and exemplary in his 
private life. The Associate Justices, Hawley (already men- 
tioned) and Obed F. Strickland — the former from Illinois, the 
latter from Michigan — were men of fewer virtues, though one 
with the Chief Justice in all things pertaining to the "Anti- 



204 WHITNEY'S I'oriLAR HISTORY UF UTAH. 



Mormon" movement that was about to be inaugurated. 
Strickland had succeeded Drake, resigned; and Hawley, Enos 

D. Hoge, removed. The twain 
had held their offices since 
April, 1869.* 

McKean's Attitude. — Chief 
Justice McKean endeavored to 
accomplish in a judicial way 
what Governor Shaffer had 
sought to achieve by executive 
methods. Acting upon the the- 
ory that the "Mormon" Church 
was disloyal, and its leaders 
tyrannical and corrupt, he pro- 
])osed to put an end to such 
conditions by any means in his 
l)ower. Judge McKean was 
not only a moral man ; he was 
religious — a devout member of 
the Methodist Church, owing 
his appointment, it was said, to 
Dr. John P. Newman, who 
was very influential with Pres- 
ident Grant. McKean believed 
that he had a divinely appoint- 
ed mission in Utah, to the carrying out of which he was evi- 
dently prepared to subordinate all other considerations. "A 
sort of missionary exercising judicial functions," "a very deter- 
mined man," "of considerable personal courage," "but not fit 
to be a judge." Such was the pen portrait drawn of Chief Jus- 
tice McKean, by Ex-Congressman Thomas Fitch, then a lead- 
ing lawyer at Salt Lake City.f 




JUDGE MCKEAN. 



*Judge Hoge, who was from Illinois, though a resident of Utah at 
the time of his appointment by President Johnson, was removed at the 
incoming of the Grant Administration. He continued to reside here, 
and was a prominent member of the Utah Bar. His removal had led to 
an interesting contest, which was not determined until September of 
that year. Judge Hoge maintained that the President of the United 
States had no power, according to the Organic Act of Utah, to remove 
Territorial Judges except for malfeasance, until the four years' term 
for which they were appointed had expired, and that the appointment 
of Judge Hawley was therefore invalid, and gave him no right to the 
place. The case was ably argued on both sides, and was decided in 
favor of the new appointee. 

t"In January, 1872, in the Ebbett House in Washington, D. C, 
Judge McKean avowed his principles to Judge Louis Dent, brother-in- 
law of the President, in these precise words; 'Judge Dent, the mission 
whicli God lias called upon me 1o perform in Utah is as much above 
the duties of oilier courts and judges as the heavens are above the 



JUDGE McKI':AX and his -mission." 265 

Judge McKean's attitude, barring the element of religious 
zeal, was that of all or most of the Federal officers who 
were allowed to hold positions in Utah during that period. 
They arrayed themselves as a unit against the "Mormon" 
Church, particularly the leaders of that organization, anf' 
policy they set out "to execute was watched approvingly, if not 
directed, from Washington. Dr. Newman, smarting under his 
polemic defeat at the hands of a "Mormon" Apostle, and Vice 
President Colfax, equally embittered against the Church Auth- 
orities, had returned from the West firmly resolved to use their 
influence with President Grant toward a speedy and efifectual 
settlement of the Utah question.* So successful were they 
and others like them in engrafting their views upon the mind 
of the Chief Magistrate, that alLGovernment representatives 
in the Territorv who manifested a conservative spirit, were 
removed, and their places filled with men who could be relied 
upon to carry out the stern policy of the Administration. "Anti- 
Mormonism" was in the saddle, backed by the power of the 
Federal Government, and it was freely predicted that "the Man 
who had conquered the South" would make short work of sub- 
duing "rebellious Mormondom." 

Objects in View.— The object of the Powers upon the Po- 
tomac was to assert and maintain the authority of the Nation 
over the Territory, which authority they had been made to be- 
lieve was not recognized by the majority of the people here. 
Incidentallv thev proposed to curtail the temporal activities of 
the "Mormon" Church, and prosecute some of its principal men 
for alleged offenses against the laws. So much for the object 
of the Government. 'The purpose of "The Ring" was to get 
the upper hand, and govern Utah to suit themselves. "Mor- 
mon" rule was hateful to them, and they wanted "Anti-Mor- 
mon" rule substituted, regardless of majorities or minorities. 
A Legislative Commission was their pet scheme, often advo- 
cated! but never realized. What this would have meant for the 
founders of the commonwealth, the people of the North were 
not in a position to fully realize ; but those of the South--such 
of them, at least, as were under the heel of "carpet-bag" dom- 
ination— could sense the situation to the uttermost. And it was 



earth- and whenever or wherever I may find the local or federal laws 
ob'^tructins? or interfering therewith, by God's blessing I shall trample 
them under my feet." See Tullidge's "Life of Brigham Young, pp. 
420-421. .'Mso Roberts' History of the Mormon Church, ".\mericana 
for November, 1914, p. 953, including footnotes; also p. 954. 

*The New York Tribune, commenting upon what followed, said: 
"The prosecution of the Mormons was known lo be a distinctively 
Administrative measure, se( on foot hv the :id\i>c >,\ Reven^id J. P. 
N'ewman. after his return frdUi Salt T.akc." 



266 WIIITXIlVS I '( )ril,.\K illSTURY OF UTAH. 

this consideration, as much as anything, that made their repre- 
sentatives in Congress, then and at a later period, loth to 
strengthen by special legislation the hands of plotters toward 
similar ends. 

Not All Alike. — This is not intended as an arraignment of 
an entire class. Not all the "Ringites" were of the office-seek- 
ing element. Some of them were men of splendid qualities, and 
of patriotic purpose. Their designs were not predatory. It 
was the zeal of the reformer, not of the place-hunter, that fired 
their souls. They hated "Mormonism," or what they supposed 
was "Mormonism" — hated it sincerely, intensely; and their 
hatred warped their judgment upon everything connected with 
it. To them it was "a desperate disease," requiring "a desper- 
ate remedy." The McKean coterie had honest aims. Their 
chief fault lay in the unfair methods by which they sought to 
encompass those aims. 

Local Legislation Set Aside. — One object of attack at 
the opening of the campaign against "The Mormon Power." 
was the Utah statute creating the offices of Territorial Mar- 
shal and Territorial Attorney-General ; a statute dating back 
to the year 1852. By that law the Territorial Attorney-General 
was required to attend to all legal business before the courts 
where the Territory was a party, and to prosecute Indians ac- 
cused of crime under the local statutes; while the Territorial 
Marshal was to execute all orders and processes of the Su- 
preme and District Courts in cases that arose under the laws 
of Utah. This arrangement left to the United States District 
Attorney and United States Marshal- the legal business arising 
under the Acts of Congress. The General Government de- 
frayed all expenses incident to the settlement of United States 
business in the courts, and the Territory assumed the cost of 
its own. This law, with another, giving to Probate Courts a 
general civil and criminal jurisdiction, had been in operation, 
under the implied sanction of Congress, for a period of eighteen 
years. 

Orr versus McAllister. — Some time before the arrival of 
Chief Justice McKean, and while Judge Wilson was still upon 
the Utah Bench, a case had come up in the District Court at 
Salt Lake City, involving the rival claims of the United States 
Marshal. J. Milton Orr, and the Territorial Marshal, John D. 
T. McAllister. The proceedings were on a writ of quo war- 
ranto, defined by Blackstone as "a writ brought before a proper 
tribunal to inquire by what warrant a person or corporation ex- 
ercises certain powers." Judge Wilson decided that Mr. Orr 
was the proper officer to perform the duties of Marshal in the 
District Court. Wilson's intent was not to arbitrarily set aside 
the law vesting that right in the Territorial Marshal, but to 



JUDGE AIcKEAN AND HIS "MISSION." 267 

have the much mooted question, which had vexed the Utah 
courts for a g^eneration, determined by competent judicial auth- 
ority. It was understood between Judge Wilson and the "Mor- 
mon" attorneys, Snow and Stout, that an appeal would be 
taken for that purpose, and the Judge volunteered all the infor- 
mation he possessed upon the subject. Accordingly the case 
went up to the Supreme Court of Utah, and was docketed with 
one similar, the parties to which were Charles H. Hempstead, 
United States District Attorney, and Zerubbabel Snow. Attor- 
ney-General for the Territory. This case had also been ap- 
pealed from the Third District C(3urt. 

Territorial Officers Ousted. — In March, 1871, the Supreme 
Court, then consisting of Chief Justice McKean and Associate 
Justices Hawley and Strickland, affirmed the judgment of the 
District Court, and ruled out the Territorial Marshal and At- 
torney General. Those magistrates held that the tribunals over 
which they presided were United States Courts, to be gov- 
erned only by the Acts of Congress. The Utah Legislature had 
no authority to prescribe rules for their guidance, and the Ter- 
ritorial officers could not legally attend to any of the business 
of their courts. Such was the substance of their decree. 

Probate Courts Curtailed.^ — Prior to this decision. Judge 
Hawley, at Beaver, in the Second District, had ruled against 
the Probate Courts, holding that they had no jurisdiction in 
criminal cases, nor in any save those pertaining to proof of 
wills and administration of estates ; an attitude in which he was 
sustained by the other members of the Supreme Court. The 
effect of this ruling was to discharge from custody one Morgan 
L. Peden, who had recently been convicted of assault with in- 
tent to kill Isaac Riddle, and sentenced for two years and six 
months' imprisonment in the Penitentiary. Peden, on regain- 
ing his liberty, instituted proceedings in the District Court 
against Judge Murdock, Sherifif Hunt, and Isaac Riddle, for 
damages in the sum of fifty thousand dollars; the basis of the 
action being his trial and conviction in the Probate Court. Pe- 
den's release vindicated the foresight of the Provo City author- 
ities at the time of the raid by soldiers from Camp Rawlins. 
When General Dc Trobriand offered to surrender the men im- 
plicated in the riot, that they might be tried and punished un- 
der the civil law, the City Marshal, it will be remembered, de- 
clined to receive them, on the ground that "a legal decision 
of recent date"' had "withdrawn criminal cases from the juris- 
diction of the Probate Court." so that the prisoners, if taken 
into custodv bv him. "would sot>n be released on a writ of 
halteas ci^-piis isstied from the District Court." 

The Englebrecht Case. Shortly before Judge McKean's 
adniinistration beuan. a case had arisen that was destined to 



268 WHITNEY'S I'Oi'ULAK lllS'i'ORY OF UTAH. 



have a weighty bearing upon his fortunes. This case had its 
origin while Judge Strickland was presiding temporarily in the 
Third District Court. A liquor-dealing firm, of which Paul 
Englebrecht was the senior partner, had violated the ordin- 
ances of Salt Lake City by selling liquor at retail under a li- 
cense permitting them to sell it only at wholesale; and as th'' 
result of their continued disobedience — for they had been fined 
repeatedlv for such infractions of the law — their establishment, 
on August 27, 1870, was abated by the police. Barrels and kegs 
containing whiskey, brandy, wine, and beer, were rolled into 
the street, ends knocked in, and contents poured into the gut- 
ter. All vessels containing liquor, and every article used in its 
sale, were destroyed, but the officers were careful not to injure 
any other property found upon the premises. The work was 
done as ciuietly as possible, and was witnessed by a nuiltitudc 
of people. 

City Officers Under Arrest. — Upon the complaint of Mr. 
Englebrecht and his business associates. Alderman Jeter Clin- 
ton, who had issued the war- 
rant of abatement, with City 
Marshal John D. T. McAllister, 
Chief of Police Andrew Burt, 
and other officers who had 
helped to execute the legal 
process, were arrested b)^ the 
United States Marshal, and 
after a hearing before Judge 
Strickland, were placed under 
l)onds to await the action of the 
(irand Jury. A criminal charge 
was the basis of their arrest, 
but a civil suit was also planted 
against them. Such was the 
situation at the opening of the 
District Court in September. 

An Illegal Grand Jury. — 
The grand jurors summoned 
for tliat term of court had been 
obtained in a manner not sanc- 
tioned by law. The iurv law of 
the Territory made it the dutv 
of the Countv Clerk, in the 
presence of the Territorial Mar- 
slial or the Sheriff, to draw jurors by lot from the names of tax- 
payers found upon the county assessment rolls. Refusing to be 
governed b)- this statute. Judge Strickland ha<l nrdered the grand 
jiiiors to l)e selected b\- the United .States Marshal, upon a writ of 




CHIEF BURT. 



jUDGi^ McKJ':an a.vi) his ".mission." 2o9 

open venire. Ijcfore the venire was returned, Judge McKean was 
installed in the Third District, and Judge Strickland assigned 
to the First, the seat of which was at Provo. 

While the Grand Jury was being empaneled, the attorneys 
for the city oflicers in the Englebrecht case challenged the 
array, and filed a motion to set it aside. Arguments followed, 
and the Judge then rendered his decision, the substance of 
which was that the Third District Court, being a United States 
Court, was governed by the Acts of Congress, and not by the 
laws of the Legislature. This being the .case, the method by 
which these jurors had been obtained — a method prescribed by 
Congress for circuit and district courts in the States of the 
Union — was lawful and proper. The challenge was therefore 
overruled, and the Grand Jury accepted and sworn. 

Indictment, Conviction, and Appeal. — The sequel was an 
indictment against Alderman Clinton and the officers who had 
abated the liquor store. Their act was described as "a wilful 
and malicious destruction of property." For such an offense 
the laws of Utah allowed as damages three times the value of 
the property destroyed. They were tried in the District Court, 
where a verdict was rendered against them, sustaining the 
claim of the liquor dealers for the sum of $59,063.25, or three 
times the amount of the damage done. The Supreme Court of 
the Territory affirmed this decision, and the case was then car- 
ried on appeal to the Court of Last Resort. 

A Change of Prosecutors. — About this time United States 
Attorney Hempstead resigned his office, unwilling, it was said, 
to be a party to the radical procedure then going on in the 
Federal Courts. Pending the appointment of a successor, 
Judge McKean placed the duties of public prosecutor upon 
Robert N. Baskin, who had been the attorney for the liquor 
dealers in the Englebrecht case. Judge Baskin brought to the 
discharge of his new duties, not only talent and experience, but 
an intense hostility to the "Mormon" Church, the main object 
of attack in the judicial operations that were now beginning. 
Ihe assistant to the Acting U. S. Attorney was General Max- 
well, Register of the Land Office, who is said to have volun- 
teered his legal services. Forthwith these zealous officials pre- 
pared to launch a series of criminal prosecutions against men 
prominent in the "Mormon" community. 

Federal Courts Without Funds. — At this juncture, how- 
ever, a temporary set-back was experienced, owing to a lack 
of funds with which to defray the expenses of these and other 
prosecutions. The Legislature had made the usual appropria- 
tion for the Federal Courts, but had expressly provided that the 
money should be drawn and disbursed by the Territorial Mar- 
.shal, which office, so far as the decision of those courts could 



270 \\iii'rNi-:\'s I't )i'i"i.\k iiisr( )in' uF utah 

affect it, had ceased to exist. Consequently there was now no 
proper person to draw and disburse the money. The Terri- 
torial Auditor, William Clayton, to whom Marshal Patrick ap- 
plied for warrants upon the Territorial Treasury, refused to 
sanction the payment of funds to any person not authorized by 
law to receive them, and the Comptroller of the National Treas- 
ury declined to audit bills for the expenses of the District 
Courts, except those incurred in the settlement of United 
States business. This caused a deadlock in the Third Judicial 
District. 

Judge to Jurors. — Judge McKean, summoning the grand 
and petit jurors before him, read an address to them, in which 
he contrasted the prompt payment by the United States Gov- 
ernment, of the expenses of the Utah Legislature, with the 
refusal by that body to permit the expenses of the United 
States Courts to be paid. He virtually placed the blame upon 
the "Mormon" Priesthood, and inveighed against them in se- 
vere terms. He then excused the jurors, after thanking them 
for their attendance, and adjourned his court sine die. 

The newspapers now took up the theme, and from the 
Pacific to the Atlantic, Utah affairs were freely discussed. One 
Western paper — the Carson (Nevada) Register— referring to 
Chief Justice McKean and his attitude upon the Bench, pun- 
gently put the matter thus: "If his court is a United States 
Court, of course the United States is bound to pay the ex- 
penses. * * * Judge McKean was simply caught in one of 
his own traps. Like every man who deviates from trodden 
paths of precedent and law, he is liable to get scratched with 
legal briars, and break his neck over unknown principles." 
Many other journals expressed similar views. 

The Deadlock Continues. — The deadlock in the Third Dis- 
trict Court continued for several months. A personal visit by 
Judge Strickland to the national capital, to explain matters and 
procure funds, failed of its object so far as finances were con- 
cerned. Until Congress or the Legislature would act, no pub- 
lic money could be made available. Whatever the mood of 
Congress, the Legislature, whose laws had been set aside by 
Judge McKean and his associates, did not feel disposed to do 
anything for the relief of the situation. 

Transfer of the Penitentiary. — -Li the summer of 1871 
United States Marshal Patrick took possession of the Utah 
Penitentiary, which was then under the control of the Terri- 
torial Warden, Albert P. Rockwood. The transfer was under 
• the provisions of an act of Congress passed in January of that 
year, giving to United States Marshals in the Territories auth- 
ority to take charge of penitentiaries that were the property of 
the Nation. The Utah Penitentiary, standing upon the foothills 



JUUCl'. AIcKI-:A.\ and mis ".mission." 271 

southeast of Salt Lake City, had been jointly erected and was 
held to be jointly owned by the Nation and the Territory. War- 
den Rockwood hesitated, therefore, to surrender it upon a mere 
verbal demand from Marshal Patrick, and expressed a wish to 
have the matter adjudicated. To this proposal the Marshal 
would not accede, and without further ado seized the institu- 
tion over the Warden's protest.* 

Federal and Territorial Prisoners. — Marshal Patrick had 
likewise been empowered to take charge of all United States 
prisoners who might be serving sentence in the Utah Peniten- 
tiary, and had been given permission to contract with "the 
proper authorities" for the board and care of the convicts of 
the Territory. The Marshal demanded the surrender, not only 
of United States prisoners, but of Territorial convicts as well. 
For the board and care of the latter, he had taken a contract 
from Governor Woods, acting for and in behalf of the Terri- 
tory. There was some opposition to this arrangement, it being- 
contended that since the people would have to "pay the bill," 
the Legislature, and not the Executive, was "the proper au- 
thority" in the premises. To the peremptory demand for the 
Territorial prisoners, the Warden demurred, protesting that an 
order should first be issued by a competent court. Patrick 
then seized all the prisoners he could find, and conveyed them 
to the Penitentiary. 

The Case of Kilfoyle. — One convict was missing, a man 
named Kilfoyle, who had been sentenced for murder to a long 
term of imprisonment. Refusing to surrender Kilfoyle with- 
out an order of court, Warden Rockwood and City Marshal 
McAllister were arrested for resisting the United States Mar- 
shal in the discharge of his duties. Judge Hawley, sitting in 
chambers of the Third District Court, heard the case early in 
September. Acting U. S. Attorney Baskin, assisted by Judge 
Morgan, prosecuted the charge, and Judge Snow, with the law 
firm of Fitch and Mann, defended Rockwood and McAllister. 
During the proceedings, as reported in the local press, 
there was a hot interchange of "compliments" .between counsel 
and other persons present. Mr. Fitch, possessor of a keen 
wit and a ready tongue, contended that habeas corpus would 
have been a better way to test the question as to who was the 
proper custodian of Kilfoyle. "However," he added ironically, 
addressing the Judge, "we have perhaps to congratulate our- 
selves that the services of your Honor have been invoked at 
all ; the defendants in this case have perhaps reason to be 
thankful that force and violence have not been resorted to. Per- 



*llie absolute ownership, by the Nation, of the Territories and 
their belongings, was a doctrine stoutly asserted, and as stoutly denied, 
in those days. Marshal Patrick was an exponent of one view, and 
\V:irden Rockwood of tlic other. 



272 \\■|HT\l■:^■•s i'()iHLAk mis roin' (ji< utau. 

haps we may congratulate ourselves that the guns of the Fort 
have not been turned on the City, the City Hall surrounded 
with cavalry, infantry and artillery, and the Warden compelled 
at the point of the bayonet to surrender his prisoner." 

"That would have been my way to do it," retorted Mr. 
Baskin. 

Mr. Fitch — "I presume Mr. Baskin would have knocked 
the City Hall and City Jail down." 

Baskin — "I would that." 

Fitch — "The acting law ofificer of the United States in- 
forms us that he would have 'let loose the dogs of war,' had 
his advice been followed and his wishes consulted. And why 
were they not? Where was the power which, with all the 
pomp and circumstance of war once interfered to prevent by 
arms a peaceful parade of American citizens on the Fourth of 
July? Was it asleep, ashamed, or afraid?" 

Governor Woods (from his seat on the right hand of Judge 
Hawley)— "Neither, my lord." 

Mr. Fitch — "I am assured by the Executive of the Terri- 
tory of Utah, who honors us with his audience, and encour- 
ages the prosecution with approving smiles, that my surmises 
are incorrect. The Executive of the Territory perhaps agrees 
with the opinion once expressed by the present President of 
the United States, that the Justices of the Supreme Court are 
'members of the Governor's staff,' and who designs possibly 
to give your Honor, as his staff officer, the benefit of his pro- 
tecting presence, while at the same time he stands ready to 
answer questions of defendant's counsel, whether he be the 
party interrogated or no — " 

The Court — "This discussion is becoming exciting, and I 
shall not permit further remarks outside of the case." 

Mr. Fitch — "I beg your Honor's pardon, but I have not 
traveled out of the proper line of argument, except to comment 
upon interruptions made irregularly by Mr. Baskin, and im- 
properly by Governor Woods. Since, then, we are to be tried 
before being punished, I will now proceed to the consideration 
of the important questions involved." 

At the conclusion of the hearing. Judge Hawley decided 
that Marshal Patrick had ex officio right to the custody of the 
prisoner, and that Rockwood and McAllister ought not to have 
refused to surrender him. He was also of the opinion that the 
Governor could make a contract that would be binding upon 
the people of the Territory. Each of the defendants was held 
in bonds of one thousand dollars, to answer to the Grand Jury. 

Judge McKean Reopens Court. — Money to pay the ex- 
penses of the Third District Court was obtained from private 
sources ; one of the contributors to the fund, which was de- 



JUDCR McKKAN AND HIS "MISSION." 272s 

signed as a loan, being U. S. Marshal Patrick, who was a well- 
to-do property owner in Omaha. He advanced several thou- 
sand dollars to the cause. The deadlock thus being broken, op- 
erations were resumed. Judge McKean reopened court in 
Faust's Hall. September 18, 1871. Just before the Grand Jury 
was empaneled. Judge Hoge, Mr. Fitch, Major Hempstead, Mr. 
Miner, and other attorneys challenged the array of jurors, on 
the ground that they had been summoned and selected by open 
venire, and not according to law. The attorneys raised the 
point in order to safeguard the interests of their clients, whose 
cases would come before the court. The challenge was over- 
ruled, and the empaneling of the Grand Jury proceeded. 

Examination of Grand Jurors. — The first "Mormon" grand 
juror examined was George Q. Cannon, editor of the Deseret 
News. In answer to questions put to him by the prosecuting 
attorney, Mr. Cannon affirmed himself a Latter-day Saint, and 
a believer in the doctrine of plurality of wives. He did not 
l)olieve that a man committed adultery in living with more than 
one wife, married to him according to divine revelation. Mr. 
Cannon was excused, as were Hiram B. Clawson and James 
I'ownsend, the only other "Mormon" jurors present. Judge 
McKean, it should here be stated, had begun to deny citizen- 
ship to "Mormon" aliens on similar grounds. 

Proceedings Against Plural Marriage. — It was now evi- 
dent that the public ])rosecutor was about to proceed against 
the practice of plural marriage, which Congress, in 1862, had 
made punishable as bigamy. The Anti-Bigamy Law, however, 
was not to be invoked in these prosecutions, but a Territorial 
statute, enacted ten years earlier, against adultery and other 
sexual sins ; a statute much more severe than the Act of Con- 
gress passed for the special purpose of meeting polygamous 
cases. The maximum penalty for adultery was imprisonment 
for twenty years, and a fine of one thousand dollars ; while the 
])unishment for a polygamous marriage was five years' impris- 
onment and a fine of five hundred dollars. Under the Terri- 
torial law there was no time limit for such prosecutions, and 
no appeal could be taken to the Supreme Court of the United 
States. Moreover the local law was to be applied to polyga- 
mous cohabitation, a point left untouched by the Act of Con- 
gress. 

The Law's Intent. — It is a well known legal maxim that 
courts, in interpreting laws, must be governed by the manifest 
intent of the law makers. The Utah Legislature, in enacting 
a law against adultery and lascivious cohabitation, had not in- 
tended to strike at plural marriage; all or most of the mem- 
liers of that body being "Mormons," some of them men with 
plural wives. Governor Young, who had approved the meas- 

17 



274 WHITNEY'S I'Ol'll.AK IIISTom' OF I'TAIl. 

lire, was well known to be a polygamist. The proposed prose- 
cution of men of his class under the Territorial statute, there- 
fore, was looked upon as a wresting" of the law from its true 
purpose. 

Indictments and Arrests. — l^arly in October a warrant of 
arrest was served upon President Young, who had been in- 
dicted by the Grand Jury of Judge McKean's court for lewd 
and lascivious cohabitation ; the basis of the indictment being 
his association with his plural wives. Adultery was not charged 
in this case, doubtless for the reason that none of the defend- 
ant's wives had lodged complaint against him ; and without 
such complaint no prosecution for this crime could be begun 
under the laws of Utah. Having been ill for several days, 
President Young was permitted by Marshal Patrick to remain 
in his owai home ; a deputy marshal being left upon the prem- 
ises. 

Next morning Mr. Fitch, of counsel for the defense, made 
application for an extension of time, and requested that Pres- 
ident Young be admitted to bail. Assistant Prosecutor Max- 
well objected to bail prior to the defendant's plea, and gruf- 
fly demanded that Brigham Young come into court, "the same 
as anybody else."* Judge McKean declined to admit the de- 
fendant to bail, but granted the extension of time asked for by 
his attorney. At the Judge's suggestion, also, the deputy 
on guard was withdrawn ; President Young being left prac- 
tically upon his own recognizances, to appear in court and 
answer to the indictment as soon as he was able. Others ar- 
rested on the same charge, were Mayor Wells, George Q. 
Cannon and Henry W. Lawa-ence. The indictment of the last- 
named gentleman, who was connected with the "Godbeite 
Movement," gave a show of impartiality to the proceedings. 

"A System on Trial." The pending question having been 
argued, President Young was admitted to Ijail in the sum of 
f^.ve thousand dollars. Arguments upon a motion to quash the 
indictment consumed several days, and on the 12th of October 
Judge McKean rendered a decision, in the course of which he 
said : 

"Let the counsel on botli sides, and the court also keep con- 
stantly in mind the uncommon character of this case. The Supreme 
Court of California has well said, 'Courts are bound to take notice 
of the political and social condition of the country they judicially rule.' 
It is therefore proper to say, that while the case at bar is called 'The 
People versus Brigham Young,' its other and real title is, 'Federal 
Authority versus Polygamic Theocracy.' The Government of the 



^General Maxwell's physical condition was said to lie largely re- 
sponsible for the ill temper that he often displayed. A fearless 
fighter, he had been shot almost to pieces during the Civil War, and 
was a constant sufiferer from his wounds. 



JUDGE MoKEAN AND HIS "MISSION." 275 

United States, founded upon a written Constitution, finds within its 
jurisdiction another government claiming to come from God — imper- 
ium in imperio — wliose policy and practices are, in grave particulars, 
at variance with its own. The one Government arrests the other, in 
the person of its chief, and arraigns it at this bar. A system is on 
trial in the person of Brigham Young. Let all concerned keep this 
fact steadily in view; and let that government rule without a rival 
which shall prove to be in the right." 

Judge McKeaii then overruled the motion, and the de- 
fendant pleaded not guilty. Further proceedings were post- 
]i(incd, to enable both sides to better prepare for trial. 

Judge IMcKean's statement that the real title of the case 
at bar was "Federal Authority versus Polygamic Theocracy," 
and that a system was on trial in the person of Brigham 
Young, created a big sensation. It was equivalent to an af- 
firmation that the United States Government was prosecuting 
a Church for an offense committed by one of its members, and 
proposed to punish an individual for the alleged evils of a 
s}'stem. All over the country, the attitude and language of 
the Chief Justice were commented upon and criticised. 

Associated Press Tactics. — Efiforts were made by those in 
control of the Associated Press to mislead the public mind 
relative to afifairs in Utah. Two days before the arrest of 
President Young, and before it was publicly known that an 
indictment had been found against him, the New York Her- 
ald published a special dispatch from Salt Lake City, stating, 
under flaring headlines, that Brigham Young had been in- 
dicted; that there was great excitement in consequence; that 
the Deseret News was advocating open resistance to the laws, 
endeavoring in every way to incite the people to rebellion ; that 
the "Mormons" were arming themselves, and that a disastrous 
collision between them and the "Gentiles" was imminent. 

One of these statements was true; the others were abso- 
Itilely false. Brigham Young had been indicted, btit neither 
he nor his friends were aware of it; and the fact that the sender 
of the dispatch was informed forty-eight hours in advance, 
showed that someone had betrayed the secrets of the Grand 
Jury room. The author of the dispatch, according to Mr. 
Tullidge, was Oscar G. Sawyer, managing editor of the Trib- 
une, for which journal, the same historian declares, Judge 
McKean was permitted to write editorial articles, sustaining 
his own court decisions. Mr. Tullidge was then one of the 
Tribune directors. He, with others, denounced Sawyer for 
the manner in which he was conducting the paper, and finally 
compelled his resignation.* 

Senator Morton and Party. — Earlv in October. United 

*Tullidgo's History of Salt Lake City, pp. 588, 590. 



270 Will rXl'lVS i'Ui^LLAk lllSrORV OF UTAH. 

States vSenator Oliver P. Morton passed through Utah, on his 
way to the Pacific Coast. With him came a small party in- 
cluding- his wife and child, also Mrs. Lippincott, better known 
by her literary name of "Grace Greenwood," and Mr. W. P. 
Fishback, editor of the Indianapolis Journal. They arrived 
at Salt Lake City on the second day of the preliminary hearing 
in the case of the People versus Brigham Young. The In- 
diana statesman was a spectator, one afternoon, in Judge 
McKean's court. Senator Morton was then a cripple, but he 
requested to be carried to the court room, so strong was his 
desire to be present at these extraordinary proceedings. 

What he thought of them, Mr. Fishback afterwards ex- 
pressed in correspondence to his paper. It was understood that 
his views and those of the Senator were identical upon the 
subject. "By no recognized rule of interpretation," said the 
distinguished journalist, "can polygamy be punished under 
tliis law. * * * i^ ^j^s clearly intended by its framers to 
punish prostitution and fornication in cases where there was 
no claim or pretense of marriage. However illegal, the Mor- 
nion marriages are de facto marriages, and were not contracted 
in violation of this statute. That they are contrary to the 
Act of Congress is clear, and they should be attacked, if at 
all, by the United States authority under that law. To use the 
Federal tribunals for the punishment of polygamists under the 
Territorial Act, is a manifest perversion of the law." He de- 
nounced the "trickery" and "pettifogging style" of "the prose- 
cution in Judge McKean's court," and expressed the opinion 
that the Government was being forced into "a false and unten- 
able position." 

The Chicago Fire — Utah's Relief Offering. — Just before 
the arrival of the Morton Party, tidings of the Chicago Fire 
had been flashed to every corner of the Nation, touching the 
hearts of millions, and kindling instant sympathy for the tens 
of thousands of unfortunates who were rendered homeless liy 
the holocaust. Calls for help came simultaneously, and the 
response from Utah was generous and immediate. At an after- 
noon mass meeting, called by Mayor Wells, and held in the 
Old Tabernacle, speeches in behalf of the Chicago sufferers 
were made by Captain Hooper, Thomas Fitch, Mrs. Lippin- 
cott, Major Hempstead, Alexander Majors and Judge Snow. 
Subscriptions for over six thousand dollars were secured on 
that occasion. At night the meeting reconvened in front of 
tlie Salt Lake House, where speeches were delivered and ad- 
ditional subscriptions obtained. A benefit performance at the 
Theatre, and a lecture by Mrs. Lippincott at the same place, 
with other contributions, swelled the relief fund from Utah to 
ncarlv twentv thousand dollars. 



juix;!-: McKi-.AX AXi) ins •■mission." 277 

"Grace Greenwood" and Brigham Young. — Mrs. Lippin- 
cott, in a letter to the New York Herald, describing the Tab- 
ernacle mass meeting ('Oot()l)er 11th), said: "Here we saw 
I>righam Young', and I must confess to a great sur])risc. I 
had heard many descriptions oi his personal appearance, but 
I could not recognize the picture so often and elaborately 
painted. I did not see a common, gross-looking person, with 
rude manners, and a sinister, sensual countenance; but a well 
dressed, dignified old gentleman, with a pale, mild face, a 
clear gray eye, a pleasant smile, a courteous address, and 
withal a patriarchal. i)atcnial air. which of course he comes 
rightly by. In short 1 could sec in his face or manner none of 
the profligate propensities and the dark crimes charged against 
this mysterious, masterly, many-sided and many-wived man. 
The majority of the citizens of Salt T.ake present on this oc- 
casion were Mormons, some of them the very polygamists ar- 
raigned for trial, and it was a strange thing to see these 
men standing at bay, with 'The people of the United States' 
against them, giving generously to their enemies. * * * 
There is to me, I must acknowledge, in this prompt and lil)- 
eral action of the Mormon ])eo])le, something strange and 
touching. It is ITagar ministering to Sarah ; it is Ishmacl giv- 
ir'g a l)rotherly lift t(i Isaac."* 

The Hawkins Case. — The case against I'resident ^^)ung 
never came to trial; but another, almost as widelv known, 
passed through the courts. Thomas Hawkins, a tinsmith, had 
been accused by his wife, Harriet Hawkins, of "numerous 
adulteries," and upon her statement, made first to the Acting 
U. S. Attorney, and afterwards to the Grand Jury, the defend- 
ant was indicted and brought to trial. Hawkins had three 
wives, and the alleged adulteries proved to be his associations 
with one or both of the women whom he had wedded after his 
marriage with the complainant. Ha\ing been convicted in the 
District Court, he was sentenced by Judge McKean to pay a 
fine of five hundred dollars and to be imprisoned at hard labor 
for three years. Commenting upon this result, fhe Omaha 
Herald said : "A greater outrage was never ner])etrated in the 
name of law." The Su])reme Court of the Territory affirmed 
the decision, and meanwhile the defendant was released on bail. 

Devious Methods. — The Fitch Review. — The methods b\- 



*.\h(>m tliat time the Dcseret Telf^rai)h l.iiu- was ci)iii])k'tecl to 
Pioche. Nevada; a srcat boon to that prosperous niinim>- town. Viewed 
from Utah, it was Sarah — Salt Lake — ministering to TTaear — Pioclie — 
in the wilderness. Tt was Isaac "givinj^ a brotherly b'ft" to Ishmael: 
and tlius Tslimael responded: "President Brigham Vonng: We thank 
> on for \()iir enterprise in nhicing us in telegraphic comminiication 
with the outer world." I'. Edward Connor and others were the 
signers of this dispateli. 



27H \\\l[['\E\'S IHM^ILAK 1 IISTORY OF UTAH. 

which Hawkins was convicted, were afterwards set forth 1^' 
one of the Court's attorneys, Mr. Fitch, in a review of which 
the following is an excerpt: 

"The Act of Congress governing the mode of procedure in crim- 
inal cases in the courts of the United States, gives to the accused ten 
peremptory challenges to the jury, against two accorded to the 
prosecution; while the Territorial law governing the mode of pro- 
cedure in criminal cases in the Territorial courts, gives the prosecu- 
tion and the accused six challenges each. The Act of Congress re- 
ferred to bars all prosecutions for non-capital felonies (except forg- 
ery) not instituted within two years from the date of the ofTense, 
while the Territorial laws contain no statute of limitations. The 
Territorial laws provide that in non-capital cases the jury which finds 
the man guilty may prescribe the punishment. The Act of Congress 
is silent upon this subject, and of course leaves the power of sentence 
where, in the absence of statutory regulation, it would belong, with 
the Judge. 

"As Judge McKean had ruled that his was a United States 
Court, the counsel for Hawkins asked the Court to give their client 
the benefit of the ten challenges allowed by Act of Congress. Judge 
INIcKean refused, and allowed only the six permitted under the laws 
of Utah. The defendant's counsel requested as an instruction to the 
jur}^ that the law of Congress protected the defendant for acts com- 
mitted two years before the finding of the indictment. Judge McKean 
refused, because the Territorial laws prescribed no limit for prosecu- 
tions. The counsel asked the Judge to allow the jury to fix the pun- 
ishment as prescribed by the Territorial laws. He refused that also. 
He pursued the practice of a United States Court when the jury was 
being selected: of a Territorial Court when the jury were being 
peremptorily challenged. He pursued the practice of a Territorial 
Court when the Act of Congress would have limited the prosecution: 
of a United States Court when the jury might, imder Territorial law, 
have been more lenient in prescribing punishment than the exigencies 
o^' a great, burning 'mission' would warrant. 

"What authorities were cited? What precedents invoked? What 
chain of reasoning offered to sustain these judicial usurpations? — 
None." 

Mr. Fitch further showed "that the four im])ortant pro- 
visions of the discarded Cullom Bill" — whose author had be- 
come the public prosecutor — were "all in successful operation,'"' 
having- been "decreed and established bv James B. McKean." 
Those provisions, the reviewer summarized as follows: "No 
choice of jurors except by a United States Marshal, no Mor- 
mon to serve on juries, the abrogation of the common law rtile 
that a wife cannot testify for or against her husband, and the 
new doctrine that marriage in criminal cases can be proven by 
admissions of the defendant."* 

*The author of the Cullom Bill, in a quasi-defense of that meas- 
ure published in recent years, saj's: "All of the provisions of the Cul- 
lom Bill, except a few minor ones, were afterwards enacted by Con- 
gress and enforced in Utah." Nobody will dispute this statement: 
brt the stubborn fact remains that those provisions were not so 
"enacted" when Judge McKean permitted them to lie "enforced in 
Utah." Consequently they were unlawful. 

Other apologists for extreme procedm-e in the Federal Courts of 



jUDCI'". McKI-.AX AND 1 1 IS -'M I SSlON." IT) 

More Sensational Prosecutions. — The Hickman-Beadle 
Story. — The crowning sensation of the year was the arrest of 
a number of prominent citizens — all members of the "Mor- 
uKMi" Church — charged with the crime of murder. Their ac- 
cuser was William A. Hickman, a self-confessed slayer of men, 
who, having been excommunicated from the Church, retaliated 
u]M)n its leaders and some of his former associates, by assert- 
ing tiiat he committed his misdeeds under their direction. The 
Acting U. S. Attorney, to whom Hickman told his story, in- 
duced the so-called "Danite" to go before the Grand Jury of 
the Third District Court and repeat the gruesome tale. The 
result was the indictment of Daniel H. Wells and Hosea Stout, 
charged with being accessory to the killing of one Yates, rep- 
resented to have been a trader on Green River at the time of 
the Echo Canyon War; also the indictment of Brigham Young 
and William H. Kimball, accused of complicity in a similar 
affair, the alleged "putting out of the way" of a man named 
Buck, near the Warm Springs, during the same period. Both 
men were reputed to be spies. An account of these alleged 
killings was put into a book entitled "The Confession of Bill 
Hickman," written by himself, but edited before publication 
l)y J. H. Beadle, of dime novel notoriety. Hickman's narrative 
was written at Camp Douglas, where he .was kept before and 
after his interview with the Grand Jury. 

The first of the four accused persons to be arrested was 
Daniel H. AWHls, Mayor of Salt Lake City. He was taken into 
custody on the 28th of October. The arrest of Judge Stout 
and General Kimball followed. President Young was awav, 
leaving started, a few days before, for Southern Utah, where 
he usually spent the winter. The persons in custody were 
conveyed to Camp Douglas, and there received kind and 
courteous treatment. Their "prison" was in the Officers' 
Quarters, and they were given the parole of the camp. Gen- 
eral Morrow, who had succeeded General De Trobriand as 
])ost commander, had them sit down to dinner with him on 
the Sabl)ath, at his own family board, where he inxited the 
\'encrable Mayr)r to invoke the divine blessing on the for)d. 

Discredited Testimony. — East and West, the newspapers 
teemed with comments upon these sensational proceedings. 



Utah, seem to think that every objection thereto is fairlj- met and 
fully answered by the cynical inquirj', "Was any innocent person 
convicted?" As if any kind of treatment might be meted out to a 
guilty person with the utmost propriety. The contention in this class 
of cases is not that the accused parties were always innocent of 
the acts charged against them, but that whether innocent or guilty, 
they were entitled to a fair trial, and, if convicterl, to a legal convic- 
tion. 



280 WHITNEY'S POri'LAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

The Chicago Post, a paper not friendly to the "Mormon" lead- 
ers, expressed the hope that they were "about to receive their 
just deserts," but added : "It would be a. little too farcical to 
convict and punish them on such testiuKMiy. * * * "p^ 
take the evidence of the principal against an accessory, is 
something never heard of in any respectable court." The sit- 
uation was a reminder to President Young's friends of a dis- 
course delivered by him in December, 1866, wherein this sen- 
tence occurs: "Infernal thieves will come into my public 
office and sit ten minutes, and then go out and lead thought- 
less persons into the practice of thieving, saying, 'It is all 
right; I have been up to see the President.' Such men will 
be damned." It was in the same discourse that President 
Young uttered the emphatic disclaimer: "If any man, woman 
or child, that ever lived, has said that Brigham Young ever 
counseled them to commit crime of any description, they are 
liars in the face of hea\'en." 

Mayor Wells Admitted to Bail. — A writ of habeas corpus 
procured the early release of Mayor Wells on bail ; an un- 
looked for event in view of the capital offense with which he 
was charged. Judge McKean overruled the angry objections 
of the prosecuting officers, giving as his reason that the de- 
fendant was the Mayor of Salt Lake City, and if kept at Camp 
Douglas would not be able to attend to the duties of his of- 
fice, and could not therefore be held responsible for the peace 
and order of the town. The Mayor was required to furnish 
two sureties in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and this being 
done, he was set at liberty. 

President Young's Case. — President Young was still 
absent. A\'ith the understanding that his case — the one re- 
named by Judge McKean "Federal Authority versus Polyga- 
mic Theocracy" — would not be called until the spring term of 
court, he had taken, for the benefit of his health, a trip to St. 
George, there to pass the winter. His leading attorney, 
Thomas Fitch, supposing the case to have been postponed for 
the term, had left Utah and was in the East. To the surprise, 
therefore, of Major Hempstead and the other lawyers for the 
defense, the case was called on the 20th of November; the 
prosecuting attorney announcing his readiness to proceed with 
the trial. 

Major Hempstead requested a postponement until March; 
but Mr. Baskin demanded the immediate forfeiture of the de- 
fendant's bonds. Judge McKean. after having the matter 
under advisement, fixed December 4th as the time for the trial 
to begin. It was now published throughout the land that 
Brigham Young had forfeited his bonds and fled from justice. 
'J'lic most extra\agant talcs were told concerning his conduct 



JUDC.R McKEAN AND HIS -'MISSION." 281 

and wiicreabouts. All the while he was sojournini;- at his 
winter residence in "Dixie." 

Bates Supersedes Baskin. — About this time President 
Grant appointed a new District Attorney for Utah, in the 
person of George C. Bates, of Chicago. This gentleman ar- 
rived at Salt Lake City late in November, and was installed 
in office on the very day set for the trial of the "Mormon" 
leader. Mr. Bates asked that the case of the People versus 
Brigham Young be called, in order that the defendant, if 
[)resent, might be heard, or if absent, that his l)()nd might be 
forfeited. Major Hempstead protested against the proposed 
forfeiture, stating that his client would l)e forthcoming to 
answer any charge within a reasonable time. Tliis statement 
seemed to satisfy the District Attorney, who had been under 
the impression that the defendant was purposely keeping out 
ctf the way. After a brief discussion between counsel and 
court, the case was set for trial on the 9th of January. 

Judge Baskin, because he had prepared the case, was re- 
tained as an assistant to Mr. Bates ; but United States Attorney 
General Akerman denied the latter's recjuest for the employ- 
ment of additional counsel. "The Government ought not to 
sh(Tw ail}' unseemly zeal to convict Brigham Young," remarked 
the Attorne}- General, in an official letter to Bates. 

Robinson Murder Redivivus. — Pending further proceed- 
ings against the head of the "Mormon" Church, several other 
members of that body, all or most of them connected with the 
Salt Lake City Police force, w^ere arrested on a murder charge 
--the killing of Dr. J. King Robinson in the autumn of 1866. 
An investigation, conducted by District Attorney Bates, as- 
sisted by General Maxwell, was held before Chief Justice Mc- 
Kean, beginning on the 14th of December. Hempstead and 
I'"itch appeared for the defense. General Maxwell, with his 
usual extravagance, averred that "the entire police force of 
Salt Lake City" was "on trial ;" a remark reminiscent of Judge 
McKean's declaration: "A system is on trial in the person of 
P)righam Young." 

The Baker Perjury. — The main witness against the men in 
custody was one Charles ^^^ Baker, a transient, who claimed 
to have been in Salt Lake City at the time Dr. Robinson was 
murdered. That very night — -October 22nd— he with another 
man had attended the Salt Lake Theatre and witnessed a plav 
in which Julia Dean Hayne took part. After the performance 
tlic\- walked down State Street to Third South, and thence to 
Main, where they heard a shot and a scream, and saw utmi 
running in different directions. Two of these men Baker took 
to be John L. Blythe, a grocer, and James Toms, a gunsmith, 
willi whom lie had had dealings. lie left LTtah before the 



2i^2 W illlM'lVS i'Ol'L l.AR HISTURV Oi' UTAH. 

iricjuest began, and had since traveled in Nevada, California 
and Oregon. Such was the substance of his testimony. 

In rebuttal of this man's statement, the defense proved by 
"I'homas Williams, treasurer, John T. Caine, stage manager, 
and John C. (Graham, actor, all three connected with the Salt 
Lake Theatre in 1866, that no performance was given at that 
house on October 22nd of the year mentioned. A bound vol- 
ume of the Theatre programs was introduced in evidence of the 
fact. Moreover, it was shown that Julia Dean Hayne was not 
in Utah at that time, having gone to Idaho and Montana, after 
closing her engagement on the 30th of June preceding. Other 
flaws in the testimony of this witness were made apparent dur- 
ing "the course of the investigation. 

Baker afterwards admitted, and made affidavit to the 
effect, that he had committed perjury in giving that testimony. 
Me stated that he had been hired to give it by certain persons 
[one of them a U. S. Deputy Marshal] who had paid his board 
at the Revere House during his detainment for that purpose ; 
and that he had been furnished with a plat of the grounds and 
street near the place of the tragedy, that he might carefully 
study the same before he gave his evidence. Since then he had 
reflected upon the enormity of the crime he had committed in 
thus falsely swearing, and concluded to make amends so far as 
lay in his power. Hence the affidavit, duly signed, sworn to, 
and attested. Another witness, John Kramer, alias "Dutch 
John." testified that Baker admitted to him that he had "done 
some hard swearing" in this case, and had said that he had to 
(1(1 it, inr he was "out of money."* 

Cases of Alibi. — The other witness relied upon l)y the 
piosecution to prove the identity of Dr. Robinson's murderers, 
was Thomas Butterwood, a miner, who had also beheld two 
men running from the scene of the murder just after it was 
committed. He did not see their faces, but recognized their 
forms as those of Alexander Burt and Brigham Y. Hampton, 
whose acquaintance he formed later. In refutation of Butter- 
wood's attempt at identification, it was proved by a number of 
witnesses that Mr. Burt, on the night of the fatal 22nd, was at 
home playing checkers with several friends, from half past nine 
until after twelve (the murder took place a little before mid- 
night) ; and that he and Hampton, between nine and ten, had 
L'\.ne home together from a circus performance near the Citv 



*Soon after Raker's confe.s.sion of perjury President Young with- 
drew his standing offer of five hundred dollars for the arrest and con- 
\iction of the murderers of Dr. Robinson; it appearing that tlie various 
rewards offered for that puri)ose, aggregating nearly ten thousand 
(U>llars, constituted an inducement to tmprinci])]ed men to perjure 
th(msil\'es b}^ engaging in sclicmcs to convict innocent persons. 



jUDGl': McKI'.AX AXIJ 1 1 IS "MISSION." 283 

Hall ; both these officers then residino- in the western part of 
town. Hampton entered his house first, leaving" Burt to pur- 
sue his way homeward. It also came out in evidence that 
Hampton was a semi-invalid at the time, troubled with pneu- 
monia, and. accordint^ to the statement of his physician, Dr. 
J. S. Ormsby, "could not have run a block." Baker, in his 
affidavit, stated that after the investigation before Judge Mc- 
Kean began, he had a conversation with Butterwood, during 
which the latter informed him that he also had been hired to 
testify in this case, and that his testimony was not true. 

Indicted and Imprisoned. — This man Baker seems t(j have 
been one who could change his principles and his attitude with 
about the same ease that a chameleon changes its colors. After 
signing and swearing to the affidavit in question, he was in- 
duced by someone to repeat his former story to the Grand Jury, 
and that body — a sample open venire creation— ignoring all 
evidence favoral:)le to the accused, indicted Blythe, Toms, 
Hampton and Burt for murder. Judge McKean sent these 
men to prison, refusing a request from them, presented by 
counsel, for an examination of Baker on the charge of false 
swearing. The prisoners were kept first at the City Jail, and 
then at Camp Douglas.* 

The "Mormon" Leader in Court. — Much astonishment was 
evinced in some circles, when it was learned, just as the new 
year dawned, that Brigham Young, the alleged fugitive from 
justice, had returned to face his accusers. Through mud and 
snow, through tempests and torrents, traveling mostly by team 
a distance of four hundred miles, the aged leader had come, 
in response to the Court's mandate, to answer the charges 
laid at his door. Or. as the Salt Lake Herald put it, "to shoAV 
the little terriers who had been barking at him, that, strong in 
tb.e con\iction of justice and right, he had faith in the ultimate 
verdict of the people." Even the Tribune, with commendable 
magnanimity, half praised the conduct of the defendant on that 
occasion. f 



*Baker. charged with perjury, had a hearing? before Alderman Jeter 
Clinton: Judge Hoge appearing for the people, and General Maxwell 
for the defendant. The latter waived examination and was remanded 
to the custody of tlie- United States Marshal. Later he was released 
on a writ of habeas corpus, issued by Judge Strickland in the tem- 
porary absence of Judge McKean. and for a season disappeared from 
view. Baker's next appearance was in the role of a common thief, 
convicted of grand larceny in the Probate Court of Salt Lake County. 
This time Judge Borenian came to his rescue with a habeas corpus 
writ, ordering his liberation on the ground that the statute giving 
criminal jurisdiction to the probate courts was invalid. 

tW'liiic" President Young was on liis way to Salt Lake City an 
nuidi-nl orrurrcd illustrative of Cicner.il Connor's naturally generous 
disposition, and indicative of the chaiiLic tlial iiad come o\er him 



284 WKITXr.VS I'Ol'l-LAK HISTORY OF UIWH. 

Bail Refused — Another Postponement. — It was January 
2nd. 1872, when Tresident Vounii', with his attorneys, appeared 
i)efore Chief justice McKean, and asked to be admitted to bail 
in the murder case then pending' against him. His counsel 
represented that the defendant was feeble, being in his seventy- 
first year, and that confinement in the Penitentiary might 
prove fatal to him. District Attorney Bates did not oppose the 
request for bail, but wanted it fixed at five hundred thousand 
dollars; a proposition that brought Mr. Fitch to his feet with 
a protest against the excessive demand. He declared that 
the defense stood readv to furnish any bail that might be re- 
quired, but the amount of half a million dollars was unprece- 
dented in American criminal history. 

Judge McKean refused to admit the defendant to bail, 
])V.t out of consideration for his age and infirmities, he sug- 
gested that the United States Marshal, in the exercise of his 
discretion, might permit President Young to remain in his own 
liome, guarded by deputy marshals. Marshal Patrick acted 
ii[K)n this humane suggestion. 

Mr. Bates was now summoned to Washington, to report 
to the new Attorney General, Mr. Williams, upon conditions 
in Utah. At his request a postponement of further proceedings 
was ordered ]\v Judge McKean. 

McKean versus Bates. — Prior to his departure for the 
Fast, the District Attorney had been prevailed upon to use his 
influence so that President Young and other defendants might 
I)c admitted to bail. Attorney General Williams having con- 
sented. Assistant District Attorney James L. High made a 
motion to that efifect in the District Court at Salt Lake City. 
Judge McKean denied the motion, and supplemented his re- 
fusal with a verbal attack ui)on the absent Mr. Bates, whom 
he accused of withholding information concerning" these cases 
from the Attorney General, and of making misstatements 
relative to afi^airs in this Territory. McKean followed Bates 
to Washington, for the purpose of counteracting his influence 
there. 

It was now apparent that the Chief Justice and the Dis- 
trict Attorney did not see eye to eye. Mr. Bates had found 



since his first arrival in Utah. The President was at Beaver, when 
the General arrived at that point from Pioche, also bound for the 
Utah capital. Superintendent Musser of the Deseret Telegraph Line, 
v\'ho was a member of the President's party, requested from Connor 
the courtesy of silence, in order that the defendant's purpose to ap- 
pear voluntarily in court mig^ht not be thwarted. The General wil- 
lingly acceded, and seemed pleased at the confidence reposed in him. 
"Tell President Young." said he, "that if he desires it, T will go bail 
for him in any amount." The pledge to maintain secrecy was faith- 
fi.lly kept. 



juixii-: McKi-:.\x AXi) iiis -mission." 285 

f.uitters in a great nnuldle ; one of his first discoveries being 
tliat llie Federal courts in Utah were without (iovernment 
funds, and that a debt of fifteen thousand dollars was piled up 
against them for means advanced by private individuals. He 
had resolved to make a plain statement of the situatic^n to the 
national authorities, with a view to ending a condition of 
affairs that was fast drifting into confusion. 1 ience the trouble 
between him and Judge McKean. 

First Biennial Legislature. — Let us now consider some 
events that were happening (Uttside the judicial arena. The 
Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, which had been 
nieeting annually, convened in its first biennial session on the 
81 h of January, 1872. This change was in conformity to a 
recent Act of Congress. The place of meeting was the City 
Hall, Salt Lake City; and the session was made memorable by 
another effort for Statehood, launched by the people's repre- 
sentatives. Never before had they been so earnest in their 
endeavors to throw ofif the shackles of the Territorial system. 

Constitutional Convention of 1872. — A bill providing for 
a Constitutional Convention passed both houses of the Legis- 
lature, but was vetoed by Governor Woods. The lawmakers 
then adopted a resolution containing the provisions of the 
\etoed bill, and appointed the 5th of February as the time for 
electing the delegates wdio were to compose the Convention. 
Distinctions of party and creed were set aside. The Salt Lake 
County delegation, when elected, stood as follows: "Mor- 
mons" — Orson Pratt, Albert Carrington, Aurelius Miner, John 
Sharp, Albert P. Rockwood, Reuben Miller, William Jennings, 
George Q. Cannon, John T. Caine and Zerubbabel Snow. 
' Gentiles" — David E. Buell, \\'illiam Haydon, Thomas P. 
Akers, Thomas Fitch, P. Edward Connor, Enos D. Hoge, 
Frank Fuller, Eli M. Barnum and Hadley D. Johnson. Gen- 
eral Connor declined to act, claiming that his residence was 
still in California. 

For and Against Statehood. — The Convention chose as its 
permanent chairman. General Barnum. When the regttlar 
order of business was reached. Judge Haydon moved an ad- 
journment sine die. He stated that he had been elected a 
member without his consent, and was opposed to a State gov- 
ernment for Utah, giving as his reasons: (1) That the people 
had not declared in favor of it ; (2) that the population of the 
Territory was insufficient;* (3) that the increased taxation 

*The United States census for 1870 gave Utah a population of 
86,786, of which two or three thousand were "Gentiles." The figures 
were considered incomplete, entire settlements having been omitted by 
the censiis takers. 



286 WHITNEY'S Tol'lLAU I1ISI( )RV (_)F UTAH. 

would be an onerous l)ur(Jen on the citizens; and (4) that the 
Convention liad heen called without the authority of Federal 
or Territorial law . Most of these objections had been raised 
bv Governor Woods in his veto message. 

The motit)n led to a long and animated discussion, reach- 
ing to the close of the third day. The principal speakers were 
Cieneral Buell, Thomas Fitch, Colonel Akers, Hadley D. John- 
son, General Barnum, George Q. Cannon, and Judge Haydon. 

Fitch, "The Silver-Tongued," — Mr. Fitch made a masterly 
speech, embod) ing the review already mentioned, and advo- 
cating a concession regarding plural marriage. "I stand here 
today," said he, "to advocate the stirrender of polygamy. * 
* * I am not here to attack polygamy from a theological, 
moral, or physical — but from a political standpoint. Certainly 
1 do not propose to question the pure motives or the honesty 
of those who believe in and practice it. * * * All the ad- 
\antages claimed for this system may be actual, but neverthe- 
less the fact exists that polygamy is an anomaly in this Re- 
public, existing hitherto by the sufferance of a people who now 
declare it shall exist no longer." The orator dilated upon 
Chief Justice McKean, referring to him as "that most dan- 
gerous of all public functionaries — a judge with a mission." 
There was no safety in Utah without a State Government, and 
tliere could be no State Government without concessions.* 



*AIr. Fitch went on to say: "The mineral deposits of Utah have 
attracted here a large number of active, restless, adventurous men, and 
with them have come many who are unscrupulous, many who are reck- 
less; the hereditary foes of industry, order, and law. This class, find- 
ing the courts and Federal officers arrayed against the Mormons, have 
with pleased alacrity placed themselves on the side of courts and 
officers. Elements ordinarily discordant blend together in the same 
seething cauldron. The officers of justice find allies in those men who, 
differently surrounded, would be their foes; the bagnios and the hells 
shout hosannas to the courts. "•' * * All believe that license will 
be granted by the leaders, in order to advance their sacred cause, and 
the result is an immense support from those friends of immorality 
and architects of disorder, who care nothing for the cause, but every- 
thing for the license. * * * Judge McKean and Governor Woods 
and the Walker Brothers and others are doubtless pursuing a purpose 
which they believe in the main to be wise and just, but their following 
is of a different class. There is a nucleus of reformers and a mass of 
ruffians, a center of zealots and a circumference of plunderers. * * * 
Every interest of industry is disastrously affected by this unholy 
alliance; every right of the citizen is threatened, if not assailed, by the 
existence of this combination. Your local magistrates are successfullj' 
defied, your local laws are disregarded, your municipal ordinances are 
trampled into the mire, theft and inurder walk through your streets 
v.ithout detection, drunkards howl their orgies in the shadow of your 
altars, the glare and tumult of drinking saloons, the glitter of gam- 
bling hells, and the painted fiaunt of the bawd plying her trade, now 
vex the repose of streets which beforetime heard no sound to disturb 
their quiet save the busy hum of industry, the clatter of trade, and 
the musical tinkle nf mountain streams." 



JUI)(;F. McKl'AX A.\l) Ills •'MISSION." 287 

Judge Haydon's Speech. — All Ijut one of the speakers sup- 
ported tiie Statehood movement. The exeeption was Judge 
llaydou, whose argument was able and eloquent. He eulo- 
gized Judge McKean, and criticized Mr. Fitch for his strictures 
u;)on Federal officers. W ith tactful diplomacy he entreated 
the "Mormon" delegates not to look with favor upon the prop- 
osition to surrender polygamy. "What would you think," said 
he. "of a Mohannnedan who, to gain a peaceful entrance to a 
river and thereby enrich his coffers, would be willing to sac- 
rifice the Crescent for the Greek Cross? =;= * * What will 
the world say of a convention composed almost entirely of 
Latter-day Saints, among whom are six Apostles and twenty 
Bishops, ready and willing to sacrifice one of their divine ordi- 
nances for the sake of a State government? Hearken to the 
words of a "(ientile' who is no enemy of yours, but who has 
.every reason to be your friend ; who has no favors to ask ex- 
cept those that one Christian may rightly demand of another: 
Slav where you are and abide your time. 'Learn to labor and 
to wait' until a new ordinance shall manifest itself for your 
guidance." 

To Judge Haydon's brilliant speech, Mr. Fitch wittily re- 
plied : "The dift'erence between my colleague and myself may 
be briefly stated thus: I wish the people of Utah to give up 
McKean and polygamy ; he desires the people of Utah to stand 
by polygamy and McKean." 

The motion to adjourn was lost by a vote of ninety-three 
to one. The Ordinance and Bill of Rights, reported from com- 
niittee on the fourth day, incjuired of Congress what conditions 
relative to plural marriage would satisfy the Nation. But 
there was- no thought of abandoning plural marriage, and no 
concession was made. 

Close of the Convention. — The Convention closed, after 
electing Thomas Flitch, George Q. Cannon, and Frank Fuller, 
to co-operate with Delegate Hooper in presenting to the Presi- 
dent and Congress the claims of the proposed State of Deseret. 
The Constitution was submitted to the people and ratified by 
a majority of nearly twenty-five thousand, there being only 365 
votes against it. At the same time Mr. Fuller was elected 
Representative. About a month later the Legislature named 
William H. Hooper and Thomas Fitch as United States Sen- 
ators. 

National Political Organizations. — The labors of the Con- 
\ention were supplemented by a partial organization of the 
national political parties. A call, signed by Frank Fuller. 
Daniel IL Wells, Thomas Fitch, William Jennings, and others, 
was issued to those holding Republican principles, inviting 
tliem to send delegates to a Territorial Convention, to be held 



2SS \\111TXI{\"S I'ol'lLAK IIISTURV OF UTAH. 

on the 5th of April, at Salt Lake City. The Democrats, rep- 
resented by Thomas 1*. Akers, Hadley D. Johnson, Enos D. 
Hoge, and others, issued a call for a similar convention, to 
meet on the 8th of that month. This was the first real attempt 
to harmonize local with national politics. The Territorial Re- 
publican Convention chose Thomas F'itch and Frank Fuller, 
and the Territorial Democratic Convention, Thomas P. Akers 
and Eli M. Barnum, as delegates to the national conventions of 
their respective parties.* 

"The Gentile League of Utah." — The leaders of the Lib- 
eral Party feared that Utah was about to be admitted into the 
U^nion. They would have considered such an event a calamity, 
e\en with polygamy surrendered. They were not fighting 
polygamy, except as an incident ; some of the most ultra of the 
"Anti-Mormons" frankly confessing their indifference to it. 
Their real object of attack was the Church, or the power 
wielded by the Priesthood in temporal affairs ; a power that 
would exist even were polygamy abandoned, and be en- 
trenched, according to their view, all the more strongly behind 
Statehood. They therefore opposed Utah's admission, and 
held aloof from the proposed national alignments. "The Gen- 
tile League of Utah," which was formed abotit that time, had 
as one of its objects the defeat of the Statehood movement. 
Its main purpose, however, was the (overthrow of "The Mor- 
mon Power."f 

The Englebrecht Decision. — Such was the tense state of 
affairs, when the Supreme Court of the United States, on the 
15th of April, 1872, rendered its decision in the Englebrecht 
case, an event of tremendous importance to this Territory. It 
was the unanimous expression of the Supreme Bench, and was 
\oiced by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. According to that 
high decision, the District Courts in Utah' were not United 
States Courts, in the sense that fudge McKean and his asso- 



*Similar action was taken thereafter at the beginning of each 
Presidential campaign, bnt this was about all that resulted from the 
initial effort to divide the people of Utah on national party lines. 

tThe "G. L. U's" brooked no interference with their pul)Hc pro- 
ceedings. Some of them went armed and prepared to resent with 
violence any "coup d'etat" on the part of their opponents. At one of 
their open-air rallies, in front of the Salt Lake House, Judge Haydon 
threatened that if the populace interrupted the program, the street 
would be seen "running down with blood." At another out-door 
gathering the chairman, Judge Strickland, made a similar threat. 
"Napoleon's treatment of the Paris mobs" was cited as a precedent. 
The interruptions complained of were usually in the form of retorts, 
not always courteous, or denials to statements made by the speakers, 
soine of whom were in the habit of assailing with harsh epithets the 
"Mormon" leaders. The "lie" wcnild iiass back and forth, and mutual 
irritation result. • 



JLlKiK McKl-:.\X AXn HIS -MISSION." 289 

cintes had held them to be; and the Territorial Marshal and 
Attorney General were legal officers of those courts. The 
Strickland-McKean ruling upon the selection of jurors was set 
aside, and the grand and petit juries formed thereunder were 
declared illegal and their findings void. 

The effect of the decree was to quash over one hundred 
indictments, and to liberate from prison or release from bonds 
a large number of persons, including President Young and 
Mayor Wells; also Judge Stout, General Kimball, and the 
four men who had been indicted for the Robinson murder. 
"The righteousness of the decision," said the Chicago Post, 
"will be api)lauded throughout the country, despite the re- 
gret, equally universal, that such a decision must carry 
with it so many mortifying consequences." According 
to the San Francisco News-Letter, it was "a virtual declaration 
by the highest authority in the land, that no portion of the 
people of the United States — however abhorrent their religious 
faith^ — can be deprived of their liberties except by due process 
of law." 

False Telegrams Refuted. — Sensational dispatches, alleg- 
ing "a terrible condition of affairs" as the result of the Engle- 
brecht decision, were sent from Salt Lake City, and published 
in the New York Herald, in the San Francisco Chronicle, and 
other influential journals. So abominably false were these 
reports, that many leading "Gentile" citizens, impelled by a 
sense of fairness, and in order that business men abroad who 
had interests in the Territory might not be misled, joined in 
a telegram to the press of the United States, refuting the state- 
ments put forth, and declaring that life and property were as 
secure in Utah as in anv State or Territory of the Union.* 



*The signers of this telegram were such men as Warren Hussey, 
president of the First National Bank; Theo. F. Tracy, agent of Wells 
Fargo & Co.; B. M. Durell, president of the Salt I>ake City National 
Bank; Thomas P. Akers, Eli M. Barnum, Hadley D. Johnson, Robert 
C. Chambers, Joab Lawrence, A. W. Nuckolls, and George E. Whitney. 



18 



XXIII. 

SUNDRY EVENTS IN THE SEVENTIES. . 

1872-1877. 

The Japanese Embassy — Other Visitors. — Just before the 
meeting- of the Constitutional Convention in 1872, Utah re- 
ceived a passing visit from the Japanese Embassy, including 
various dignitaries of the ancient empire. Their object in com- 
ing to America was to establish diplomatic and commercial 
relations with the United States. They were accompanied b\ 
Charles E. DeLong, United States Minister to Japan, and b\ 
the Japanese Consul at San Francisco. Salt Lake City enter- 
tained the visitors, and they were also the guests of President 
'S'oung, at his home, and of General Morrow, at Fort Douglas. 
By that amended title the "Camp" had now become known. 

During the following summer and autumn, the season of 
the Grant-Greeley presidential campaign, Senator John A. 
Logan, of Illinois, made a speech at the Lil)cral Institute. In 
his brief allusion to local aftairs he referred to the rich re- 
■^1 iirces of the country, and complimented the industry and 
oiergy of the people. His speech proper was a strong ad- 
vocacy of the re-election of President Grant. Other comers 
that season were Secretary of the Interior Delano, Generals 
George B. McClellan. James A. Garfield, A. W. Doniphan, and 
Thomas L. Kane; Honorable James G. Blaine, Speaker of the 
House of Representatives; Cyrus W. Field, pioneer of the At- 
lantic Cable vSystem ; and Reverend Charles Kingsley, English 
author and Chaplain to Queen A^'ictoria. All were hospitably 
entertained. Speaker Blaine and partv bv the authorities of 
Salt Lake City.* 

Threatened Indian Outbreak.^ — The Indian troubles of 
1865-1869 had ended all organized warfare on the part of the 



'•'General Doniphan and General Kane were personages of special 
interest in Utah; the former having been a friend of Joseph Smith, 
and his attorney during the "Mormon" troubles in Missouri. General 
Kane, the mediator of 1858, accompanied by his wife and two sons, had 
traveled West for the benefit of his health, being an invalid from the 
cfi'ect of wounds received while fighting for the Union. During his 
stay, from November, 1872, to February, 1873 he visited Southern Utah 
and was the guest of President Young. Garfield's visit led to the chris- 
tening of a steamer on the Great Salt Lake — "The General Garfield," 
which was used for many years as a pleasure boat. An attempt to 
navigate the Lake for commercial purposes had l)een made by General 
Connor and others several years before, when they launched the "Kate 
Connor," a small steamer designed to carry Rush Valley ores to 
Corinne. 



SUNDRY l':\l-:X IS IN THE SEVENTIES. 291 

savages in Utah; Imt llic spring ut 1872 witnessed some desul- 
tory depredations which threatened at one time a general out- 
break. The primal cause was l^ad treatment of the red men 
by dishonest Government agents, and acts of lawlessness by 
renegade whites. These difficulties did not originate in Utah, 
but spread from the northern Territories to this region. 1 los- 
tilities in Southern Utah and in Arizona had been barely 
a\erted by the good offices of Jacob llamblin, Indian inter- 
preter, who, at Fort Defiance, in November, had concluded a 
treaty of peace on behalf of the people of this Territory with 
the principal chiefs of the Navajos. 

Special Agent Dodge. — Colonel G. W. Dodge, Special In- 
dian Agent for the Government, sought to redress the griev- 
ances complained of by the savages. He distributed among 
them large cjuantities of flour, beef and other supplies ; but 
these pacific measures did not suffice to placate the unruly. 
They became more and more insolent, and by persistent beg- 
ging and stealing levied a burdensome tax upon the settlements 
in Central Utah. There was a series of raids, in which several 
white men were killed, and a large nunil)er of horses and cattle 
driven ofT. 

At this time hundreds of Indians were ]:)aying fricndl}- 
visits to the settlements of Sanpete, Sevier, Juab and Utah 
counties, and as some of them moved about in small com- 
panies, it was difficult to distinguish which of the roving bands 
were hostile. Colonel Dodge, to simplify the situation, ordered 
all peaceable red men to return to the reservations. He in- 
structed the people not to feed them, as he would furnish them 
plenty if they obeyed orders. The savages were incensed, and 
matters looked threatening. Colonel J. L. Ivie, a militia 
officer, telegraphed to General Wells, asking if he should call 
out his regiment to defend the settlers; but General Wells was 
powerless, because of the proclamations of Governor Shafifer 
and Acting Governor Black, forbidding the militia to assemble 
and bear arms. Governor Woods, when appealed to, refused 
to rescind the prohibitive order. 

General Morrow's^ Service. — At this juncture General 
Morrow took the field, with troops from Fort Douglas, and 
through the co-operation of friendly Indians and leading men 
in the settlements, secured a council with several chiefs, and 
made a treaty with them at Springville. The obedience ren- 
dered by the people to the Shafifer-Black edicts, in the face of 
such trying conditio'ns, caused Morrow to express the opinion, 
in his report to Agent Dodge, that there was "not another 
American community in the Nation which would have endured 
half the outrages these people have endured, before rising up 
as one man to drive out the savage invaders at the point of the 



292 WHITNEY'S l'()i>UL.\K HISTORY OF UTAH. 

bayonet." "On any principle of self defense," said the Gen- 
eral, "they would have been justified." In the same report he 
recommended that some recompense be made to the people for 
their losses, and that this be done from the appropriation made 
by Congress for these tribes. Colonel Dodge replied : "I 
fully concur with you in all the statements you have made," 
and "I shall do everything in my power to bring such relief to 
the sufferers as the law will allow." The Agent also sup- 
[)orted the General's application on behalf of the Indians, ask- 
ing permission for a delegation of chiefs to visit President 
Grant ; an application favorably acted upon in October, 1872, 
when four of the principal braves left Salt Lake City, in com- 
pany with Colonel Dodge, to confer with "The Great Father at 
\\ ashington."* 

Utah Affairs in Congress. — "Anti-Mormonism" continued 
to rear its head in the halls of Congress. Delegate Clagett, of 
Montana, declared in the House of Representatives that free- 
dom of speech and of the press and of public worship were un- 
known in Utah, and that Brigham Young had raised the Brit- 
isli flag at Salt Lake City. Prominent "Gentiles" residing in 
this Territory joined in a request to Representative Sargent, of 
California, that he enter an emphatic denial of all such allega- 
tions. Delegate Hooper answered Clagett on the floor of the 
House, denouncing his radical speech as untrue from beginning 
to end. Mr. Clagett, who had introduced an "Anti-Mormon" 
measure, one of many presented during that period, followed 
up his verbal attack with a personal call upon President Grant, 
in company with Delegate Samuel A. Merritt, of Idaho. They 
urged upon the President the necessity of a special message to 
Congress on Utah affairs. The Chief Magistrate had already 
visited the judiciary committees of the Senate and the House, 
urging the immediate passage of the Logan Bill, which pro- 
posed to give to Federal officers in this Territory the powers 
they had exercised under the unlawful rulings of Judge McKean. 

President Grant's Special Message. — The special message 
advised by the Montana and Idaho delegates came in February, 
1873. It advocated special legislation providing for the selec- 
tion of grand and petit jurors by persons entirely independent 
of those who were "determined not to enforce any act of Con- 
gress obnoxious to them ;" and advised the taking from the 



*The next Indian scare was in August, 1875, when certain agitators 
tried to mislead the Government by charging an alliance between 
"Mormons" and Indians; a reported attack upon Corinne by peaceable 
red men at or near Malad, being one of the fictions invented to im- 
pose upon the credulity of people at a distance. The "Corinne Scare" 
was a base fraud, fully exposed, but as usual the Indians had to suffer. 
All were ordered back to the reservations, including those who had 
liccome civilized and were peacefully cultivating the soil. 



SUNDRY EN'EXTS IN Till-: Si-LXENTIES. 293 

probate courts of "any power to interfere with or impede the 
action of the courts held by the United States Judges." The 
President expressed apprehension that unless Congress took 
immediate steps in this matter, turl)ulence and disorder would 
follow, rendering military interference a necessary result. 

George Q. Cannon, Delegate. — Meantime, in August, 1872. 
George Q. Cannon had been elected to succeed William II. 
Hooper as Delegate in Congress. At the same election George 
R. Maxwell received 1,942 votes, as against 20,969, cast for 
Mr. Cannon. General Maxwell, who hade made an unsuccess- 
ful contest, two years before, against Captain Hooper, a mo- 
nogamist, now entered the field against an avowed polygamist. 
He first protested against the issuance of the election certificate 
to his victorious opponent, charging him not only with polyg- 
amy, but with disloyalty. The Governor and the Secretary, 
before whom the protest was made, had no legal discretion 
in the matter, but must issue the certificate to the person re- 
ceiving the greatest number of votes; this being the law upnii 
the subject. Mr. Cannon, therefore, obtained the document. 
The contest was then carried to Washington. 

Delegate Cannon presented his certificate of election in 
December, 1873, asking to be sworn in and admitted to his 
seat. Objection was raised by Mr. Merriam, of New York, 
who ofifered a' resolution reciting that Mr. Cannon had taken 
an oath inconsistent with citizenship and his obligations as a 
Delegate, and was guilty of practices violative and in defiance 
of the laws. The resolution proposed a reference to the Com- 
mittee on Elections. Mr. Cox, also of New York, opposed the 
resolution, and a motion made by him, that Mr. Cannon be 
sworn in, having prevailed, the oath of office was administered 
to the Delegate from Utah. The Committee on Elections, 
before whom the question was subsequently carried, decided 
unanimously in favor of Mr. Cannon, and a further eflfort to 
unseat him by an investigation of the charges made by General 
Maxwell also resulted adversely to the contestant. 

The Poland Law. — President Grant, in his message to the 
Vorty-third Congress, again urged upon the law-making body 
the necessity of legislation to prevent a state of anarchy in 
Utah. The result of this persistent prodding was the enact- 
ment of the Poland Law, the original bill for which was intro- 
duced in the Houes of Representatives. January 5, 1874, by 
Representative Luke P. Poland, of Vermont. The measure 
was vigorously opposed. The Utah Legislature attempted to 
ward it ofif by a memorial denying that the "Mormon" people 
were disloyal, and soliciting a committee of investigation. Mat- 
ters went along until Mav. when Mr. Poland withdrew the 



294 WHITNEY'S I'Ol'UI.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

proposed measure, and substituted one more moderate, which 
liecame a law on the 23rd of June. 

The Poland Law repealed the Utah statutes relating- to 
the Territorial Marshal and Attorney-General, and placed the 
])owers and duties of those officers upon the United States 
Marshal and District Attorney. The judgments and decrees 
of the Probate Courts already executed, and those rendered, 
Ih.e time to appeal from which had expired, were validated and 
confirmed, but the jurisdiction of such courts was limited in 
future to settlement of estates of decedents and to matters of 
guardianship and divorce. The jurisdiction of Justices of the 
I Vace was slightly extended, and the appointment of U. S. Com- 
missioners by the Supreme Court of the Territory, authorized. 
In trials for bigamy and i)olygamy, and in cases involving" 
t-apital punishment, appeals were allowed to the Supreme 
Court of the Nation. The drawing of grand and petit jurors 
in each district was placed in the hands of the Probate Judge 
and the Clerk of the District Court; by which arrangement 
"Alormons" and "Gentiles" — majority and minority — were 
given equal representation on the jury list.* 

McKean Reappointed. — Judge McKean's "mission" in 
Utah was practically ended ; the Englebrecht decision having 
l)Ut a quietus upon it. But President Grant still stood by 
him; or, what was equivalent, still stood by Dr. Newman, to 
whose influence, according to report, McKean owed his as- 
signment to the Supreme Bench of this Territory. Grant's 
loyalty to his friends was proverbial. Besides, it must not be 
forgotten that McKean, after all, had done nothing in Utah 
but -carry out, in his own peculiar way, the "Anti-Mormon" 
policy of the Administration. During the same month that the 
Poland Law was enacted, the Chief Justice was honored with a 
reappointment. 

Official Changes. — District Attorney Bates had been re- 
moved in December, 1872, and William Carey, of Illinois, ap- 
])0!nted in his stead. About the same time General Maxwell 
succeeded Colonel Patrick as United States Marshal. Judges 



*Judge Baskin cites the case of Ferris versus Higley, in which the 
Supreme Court of the United States declared void the act of the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature conferring upon the Probate Courts of Utah gen- 
eral jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. He tries to make a point 
out of the fact that several individuals, convicted of capital crimes, 
had been executed under tlie judgments and decrees of those courts. 
"Of course," savs he, "all the judgments and decrees rendered in said 
courts were A'oid." This is a fair sample of Raskin's unfairness. He 
omits the date of the Ferris-Higley decision fNovcmljcr 16, 1874). 
which was several months after the enactment of the Poland Law, and 
fails to call attention to the fact that by that law "the judgments and 
decrees" which ho pronounces "void," had all boon "validated and con- 
I'lrmcd." Sec Poland T,aw, Section 3, Compiled Laws of ITtah 1888. 



Sl■Nl)k^■ i:\ i-:.\Ts ix iiii': sI'AEXTIES. 295 

Hawley and Stricklaiul liad resioncd in 1873. under a cloud 
of scandal ; Hawley accused of bigamy, and Strickland of hav- 
ing purchased, with a worthless promissory note, tiie inflvience 
tliat secured his appointment as a Federal Judge; the holder 
of the note being his predecessor, Judge Drake. The places 
vacated by these discredited magistrates were next held by 
Phillip H. Emerson, of Michigan, and Jacob S. Boreman, of 
West Virginia. William M. Mitchell, of the former State, had 
been President Grant's first choice for successor to Judge 
TTawIe}', but influences exerted against him prevented his con- 
firmation, and the appointment then went to Judge Emerson. 

Military and Municipal Friction. — In the summer of 1.S74 
there was some friction between the authorities at Fort Doug- 
las and the Police Department of Salt Lake City. The sym- 
pathies and associations of many of the "boys in blue" were 
with the saloon element, which was hostile to the municipal 
officers because of their efl-'orts to restrain the liquor traffic. 
Consequently there were frequent disturbances of the peace 
by drunken soldiers. The Secretary of War had issued a gen- 
eral order requiring all such ofi^enders to be dealt with by the 
military authorities, and at Fort Douglas this w\is interpreted 
to mean immunity from arrest and prosecution by the Police 
Department. The immediate cause of the friction was an in- 
cident that took place on the 10th of Jtine. when Thomas 
Hackett, a soldier, brutally assaulted an aged man. Ex-Asso- 
ciate Justice McCurdy ; the assault occurring on the street in 
Salt Lake City. Hackett was arrested and taken to the City 
Jail. Next morning Lieutenant Dinwiddie demanded the pris- 
oner from Police Justice Clinton, who refused to order Hack- 
ett's release. About noon Captain Gordon and a troop of 
cavalry appeared at the City Hall, and the officer, after an 
interview with Governor Woods, ordered his men to batter 
down the jail door. This they were not able to do, but tore 
part of the iron grating from a window, and liberated their 
comrade. 

Soon afterward another ofifender from the ]>ost, one Fred- 
crick Bright, for drunkenness and disturbance, was fined five 
dollars and in default of payment committed to jail. The Fort 
Douglas authorities did not repeat the procedure of the Hack- 
ett case in the Bright afifair, but secured a writ of habeas cor- 
pus, upon which the matter came before the Supreme Court of 
the Territory. That tribunal decided that the police had the 
right to arrest offending soldiers, but must surrender them 
upon a formal demand by the proper military officer, or thev 
could be taken by force. 

riic decision was equitable, but perfect harmony was nc^t 
inmicdiatcU' restored. This fact comincr to the notice of Gen- 



296 VVHITNEY'S POPl'LAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

eral Sheridan, who arrived at Fort Douglas early in July, he 
caused the Thirteenth Infantry, General Morrow's command, 
to be superseded by the Fourteenth Infantry, under General 
John E. Smith. The latter regiment reached the post on the 
27th of August. 

Cannon Defeats Baskin. — The same month saw the re- 
election to Congress of George Q. .Cannon, his opponent this 
time being Robert N. Baskin, who contested unsuccessfully 
the seating of the Delegate-elect. The election, which was 
also for county officers and members of the Legislature, was 
notable for a riot at Salt Lake City, and the capture of Tooele 
County by the Liberals. 

The Election Riot. — The riot resulted from a collision be- 
tx-i-een the Police and a special force of Deputies appointed by 
United States Marshal Alaxwell under the so-called "Bayonet 
Law," a statute made for the reconstruction period in the 
South, but afterwards decided to be unconstitutional. Max- 
well's attempt to control the election brought confusion and 
strife. During the afternoon Mayor Wells was about to enter 
tlie City Hall, when he was seized by Deputy Marshal J. M. 
Orr and roughly pulled into the crowd, amid shouts of "Kill 
him, kill him !" With his coat torn to ribbons, the Mayor 
was rescued and hurried into the building. Reappearing upon 
the balcony, he commanded the mob to disperse. The warn- 
ing was greeted with yells of defiance and brandishing of 
weapons, whereupon the Mayor ordered the police to clear the 
path to the polls. The front doors of the City Hall, which 
had closed upon him and his rescuers, were now thrown open, 
and out came the police in solid column, charging upon the 
crowd, hitting right and left with their clubs, and putting to 
flight all who opposed them. Broken heads were plentiful, 
and numerous arrests followed. Mayor Wells and Chief of 
Police Burt were among those taken into custody; but at the 
hearing in their case, before U. S. Commissioner Toohy, it was 
found that their conduct during the riot had been in pursuance 
of their official duties, and the charges against them were dis- 
niissed. 

In Tooele County. ^ — The election result in Tooele County 
was made possible by the absence of a registration law. Elec- 
Irrs were required to be residents and taxpayers, and could 
\'i )te on!}' in the precinct where they resided ; the proof of 
residence being their names upon the tax lists. Tooele County 
h.-i.d less than fifteen hundred taxpayers, yet twenty-two hun- 
dred votes were deposited in the ballot boxes on election day. 
In Jacob City, a mining camp, one candidate received more 
than five hundred votes in excess of the whole number of quali- 
hod voters in the precinct. Returns from other precincts 



SUNDRY E\ KXTS IN THE SEVENTIES. 



297 



showed similar discrepancies. A contest arose, and the mat- 
ter went into the courts; Governor Woods meanwhile commis- 
sioning- the officers elect. They were not displaced; Judge 
McKean ruling in their favor. In the case of the Representa- 
tive, however, the final adjudicaticMi was with the Legislative 
Assembly, which found that 
George Atkin was entitled to 
the office, and he was accord- 
ingly seated. 

Governor Axtell. — In De- 
cember. 1874. George L. Woods 
was succeeded as Governor of 
Utah by Samuel B. Axtell, who 
arrived at Salt Lake City in 
February, 1875. A Wes'tern 
man, who had represented the 
State of California in Congress, 
the new Executive was a friend 
to Utah, and strove to serve the 
entire people, refusing to be the 
tool of a clique. The "Ring," 
therefore, had no use for him ; 
nor he for them. Their organ 
assailed him mercilessly — he 
was the "Jack-Mormon" par 
excellence — and their influence 
soon effected his removal, or 
rather, his transfer. In the 

summer of the same year he was appointed Governor of New 
Mexico, and subsequently became Chief Justice of that Ter- 
ritory: making- an honorable record in both positions. 

Governor Emery. — President Grant's next choice for Gov- 
ernor of Utah was (ieorge W. Emery, of Tennessee. He re- 
ceived the appointment in June, 1875. Emery was a ])ersi)nal 
friend to the Chief Magistrate, and proved himself a wise and 
capable officer. By a prudent and tactful course, he attained 
a goodly degree of popularity, without giving much offense to 
either side; a most difficult thing to do. It was during his 
administration that "the marked ballot," which had created 
so much discussion, and out of which so much political capital 
had been made, was abolished, and the secret ballot substi- 
tuted. A new^ penal code, adopted from the California stat- 
utes, was enacted, and the old law repealed under which it had 
been proposed to punish polygamous association as adulter}-. 
The Governor's approval of the new enactment, while com- 
mended by conservative "Gentile" lawyers, cost him the good 
will of extreme "Anti-Mormons." and possibly prevented his 




GO\"ERNOR AXTELL. 



298 \\iirr.\i-:vs i'oiti.ar history of utau. 




reappointment as Utah's Executive. Among the honors Ije- 
stowed npiin the ( in\ernor was the giving of his name to 

Emery County, a mark of ap- 
l)reciation on the part of the 
Legislature. 

"The Ann Eliza Case." — 
Early in this decade the polyg- 
amy question came prominent- 
ly before the country, through 
a divorce suit instituted in the 
District Court at Salt Lake 
City. The parties to the suit 
were Ann Eliza Webb Young, 
])laintiff, and Brigham Young, 
defendant. The plaintiff, who 
was a plural wife of the defend- 
ant, sued not only for divorce, 
but for alimony pendente lite, 
or during the litigation. "The 
Ann Eliza Case," as it was 
called, "dragged its slow length 
along" until February 25, 1875, 
when the defendant was or- 
dered by the Court to pay to 
the plaintiff three thousand dol- 
lars — attorneys' fees; also the further sum of five hundred 
dollars a month, for her support and the education of her chil- 
dren. The defendant was given ten days in which to pay the 
fees, and twenty days in which to pay the accumulated alimony 
for nineteen months, amounting to $9,500. 

An appeal was prepared to the Supreme Court of the Ter- 
ritory, but before it could be perfected the time within which 
the fees were to be paid had expired. No payment having 
l)cen made, the defendant was required to appear and show 
cause why he should not be punished for contempt. Accord- 
ingly, on the 11th of March, President Young appeared in 
Court, and by his attorney, Mr. P. L. Williams, presented a 
written statement to the effect that his failure to comply with 
the order of the 25th of February was owing wholly to a de- 
sire to obtain the benefit of his appeal. Disclaiming all inten- 
tion or disposition to disregard or treat contemptuously any 
process of the court, he asked that further proceedings in exe- 
cution of the order relative to fees and alimony be stayed until 
the appeal had been determined. 

President Young Imprisoned. — Judge McKean held that 
I 'resident Young was guilty of contempt, and sentenced him to 
iniiirisonment for twentA-four hours in the Penitentiarw Tie 



GOVERNOR EMERY. 



SL"N1)K^■ I'A I'.X'JS IN Till-: SKNENTIES. 299 

a]s(i ini])osed upon him a lii>ht fine — twenty-five dollars. The 
amount of the fees was paid 1)y the President's clerk, James 
Jack, as soon as judgment had been rendered. The defendant, 
after receiving" sentence, left the court room in company with 
Deput}- Marshal A. K. Smith. In his own carriage he was 
taken to his residence, where he supplied himself with bedding, 
clothing, and other articles that he might need while in prison, 
and after dining was conveyed through a heavy snow-storm to 
the Penitentiary. Mayor AVells, Dr. Seymour B. Young, and 
W^illiam A. Rossiter, went with the President and remained at 
tliC A\'arden's house over night. Many other friends drove out 
to the Penitentiary during the afternoon, and a small host, 
awaiting the hour of deliverance, found lodgings at every avail- 
able place in the vicinity. In a room adjoining the Warden's 
h( use. President Young passed the night in comparative com- 
fort, receiving from his guard and the officers of the ])rison 
every consistent courtesy. Next day, between twelve and 
one p. m., surrounded by a multitude of friends, he was escort- 
ed back to his home. 

Judge McKean's summary action in this afTair was much 
criticised, not only in Utah, but far beyond her borders. The 
Court was also censured for giving to Ann Eliza Webb Young 
the status of a legal wife. The New York Post declared that 
Judge McKean, "in order to deplete Brigham Young's bank 
account, had repudiated his own principles" and might "fairly 
be hailed" by the "Mormons" as "a convert to polygamy." The 
San Francisco Bulletin presented the matter in this form: 
"When Judge McKean assumes that this woman is the wife of 
Young, makes an interlocutory degree granting her three thou- 
sand dollars to maintain a suit for divorce, when there never 
\\as a legal marriage, and commits Young for contempt be- 
cause he hesitates long enough to raise the ciuestion of the 
legality of the order, he burns some strange fire on the altar of 
justice." "It is customary," said the Chicago Times, "to hold 
judgments in abeyance until the appeal is at least argued. This 
summary method of dealing with the Prophet looks very much 
like persecution, and will awaken sympathy for him instead 
of aiding the cause of justice." 

Judge McKean Removed.^ — And so it proved. The im- 
prisonment of the founder of Utah for a slight technical of- 
fense, was generally looked upon as an unnecessary and a 
spiteful proceeding. Tt was "the last straw" on "the camel's 
back" of Presidential forbearance. Judge McKean's radical 
course had at length convinced the Administration at Wash- 
ington that a change in the Chief Justiceship of this Territory 
would be beneficial. I'ive days after the issu;incc rif the order 
sending P)righani ^"oung {n prison, jndge McKean was re- 



.300 WHITNEY'S POPl'LAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

moved from office. He continued to reside at Salt Lake City, 
v/here he practiced law, but died a few years later of typhoid 
fever. Among the "Gentiles," as a body, and particularly the 
"Anti-Mormons," Judge McKean retained his popularity to the 
last. His friends still believe he was an upright judge. 
Doubtless he meant to be. But the record of his public acts 
is before the reader; let it speak for itself. The rectitude of his 
private life is unquestioned. The James B. McKean Post, a 
local G. A. R. organization, helps to keep alive the name and 
memory of Utah's former Chief Justice. 

Chief Justice Lowe. — Judge McKean's successor was 
David B. Lowe, of Kansas. When the divorce suit of Young 
versus Y^'oung came before him, Judge Lowe was urged to im- 
prison the defendant for failing to pay the accumulated ali- 
mony. He refused, for the reason that a valid marriage had 
neither been admitted nor proved. A few weeks later Judge 
Lowe resigned. 

Boreman Reversed by White. — Associate Justice Bore- 
man, while sitting temporarily in the Third District Court, also 
ruled upon "The Ann Eliza case," ordering that Brigham 
Y'oung be imprisoned until the alimony was paid. The de- 
fendant was too ill to appear in court, and after sentence was 
guarded in his own home by two deputy marshals. Judge 
Lowe's successor, Chief Justice Alexander White, after a hear- 
ing in habeas corpus, decided that Boreman's order, readjudi- 
cating an issue previously disposed of in the same court, was 
unauthorized, and therefore void. This decision set President 
Young at liberty. 

End of the Divorce Suit. — White's successor, Chief Justice 
Michael Schaeffer, reduced the alimony to one hundred dollars 
a month, and ordered that it be paid. In execution of this 
order, personal property was sold at auction, and certain rents 
v,'ere seized. Einally on April 20, 1877, Judge Schaeffer, hav- 
ing heard the whole case, decreed the polygamous marriage 
between Brigham Young and Ann Eliza Webb Young void, 
and all orders for temporary alimony not then complied with, 
were revoked and annulled. The costs were assessed against 
the defendant. 

The Reynolds Case. — The Latter-day Saints, as already 
shown, held the opinion that the Act of Congress inhibiting 
plural marriage was unsound. The Federal Constitution ex- 
];ressly declares : "Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or i)rohibiting the free exercise there- 
of." Celestial Marriage, including plurality of wives, was "an 
establishment of religion" to those who looked upon it as a 
diA-ine revelation. Consequently the Act of 1862 was regarded 
1)\' tliem as an infringement upon rcligicuis libcrtv, an invasion 



SUNURV EVENTS IN THE SEVENTIES. 



301 



of tiie most sacred right guaranteed by the fundamental Law 
of the I>and. It was believed that the highest judicial au- 
thority would so decide, when the issue came fairly and 
squarely before it. So confi- 
dent were the "Mormon" lead- 
ers upon this point, that they 
more than once expressed the 
wnsh that a test case might be 
passed ui)on by the Court of 
Last Resort.* 

In the autumn of 1874 such 
a case arose. The defendant 
was George Reynolds, private 
secretary to President Brigham 
Young. A native of London, 
England, aged thirty-two, he 
had been a resident of Utah 
since 1865. He was the hus- 
band of two wives, Mary Ann 
Tuddenham and Amelia Jane 
Schofield. These and other 
facts were communicated by 
him to the Grand Jury of the 
Third Judicial District, and he 
was indicted for polygamy or 
— as the law styled it — -l^igamy. 

First Trial — Judgment Re- 
versed. — There were two trials 

of the Reynolds case; the first beginning on the last day of 
March, 1875, before Associate Justice Emerson, who was pre- 
siding in the Third District Court during the interim between 
the removal of Chief Justice McKean and the arrival of his 




GEORGE REYNOLDS. 



*General Rahcock's report to the Government ('Octol)er, 1866) 
contained these sentences: "The Act of Congress of 1862, prohibiting 
polygamy, has never been enforced. President Young told me he 
wanted it brought before the courts, and would place no obstacle in 
the way; and in fact would help to bring it before the courts. He 
said he believed it was unconstitutional, as it is against one of the 
foundations of their religion. * * * The attempt to enforce this 
law of 1862 has been a failure, and I think it will be, not because the 
people oppose the courts, but the fanatical views of the people render 
such failures almost certain. The law makes it a crime to take more 
than one wife. Before the offender can be tried he must be indicted 
before a jury of the land. The jury of necessity is entirely or mostly 
Mormons. No Mormon can see a crime in taking two or three wives 
in accordance with God's revelation to them. The result is, no one 
is indicted. The Gentiles (Anti-Mormons) in Utah thought they 
would have a Gentile settlement in the Territory, in the Pahranagat 
mining country, where a Gentile jury could be found; but the last 
Congress cut this portion of Utah off and annexed it to Nevada. .So 
the Mormons arc even stronger than before." 



oOi W IIIT\I':\"S I'OIH'LAU 1 1 IS lUKV Ol- UTAH. 

successor.* District Attorney Carey prosecuted tlie case, and 
the law firm of Sutherland, Hates and Snow appeared for the 
defendant. The jury was composed of seven "Mormons" and 
Ihe "Gentiles." Among the witnesses was the defendant's 
l)lural wife, Amelia Reynolds, who admitted that she was mar- 
ried to him in August, 1874. The jury rendered a verdict of 
guilty, and recommended the prisoner to the mercy of the 
court. A fine of three hundred dollars, and imprisonment for 
one year at hard labor, was the sentence pronounced. The 
Supreme Court of Utah reversed this judgment, upon finding 
tiiat the indictment in the case had been returned by a grand 
jury composed of twenty-three men, instead of the fifteen re- 
quired by law. 

Second Trial — Judgment Affirmed. — Upon a new indict- 
ment, Mr. Reynolds had his second trial in December, 1875. 
Chief Justice White then presided, and Mr. Carey conducted 
the prosecution; Williams and Young, with Sheeks and Raw- 
lins, appearing for the defense. It was now evident — though 
hopes had been entertained to the contrary — that the United 
States Attorney was not trying the case merely as a test of the 
constitutionality of the law. He was determined not only to 
convict, but to punish, the defendant. Sensing this fact, Mrs. 
Amelia Reynolds refused to appear as a witness, and was not 
found when the officers went in search of her. The Court, 
however, permitted the prosecuting attorney to call to the wit- 
ness stand lawyers and other persons who had been in attend- 
ance at the former trial, and accepted as evidence their state- 
ments as to what the now absent witness had testified. The 
defendant, again found guilty and recommended for judicial 
clemency, was 'fined five hundred dollars and sentenced to the 
Penitentiary for two years at hard labor. The Supreme Court 
of the Territory affirmed the decree, and the case was then 
carried to Washington. 

President Grant in Utah. — In the autumn of 1875 Presi- 
dent Grant visited Utah — the first head of the Nation to set 
foot within the Territory. From Washington, D. C, he had 
come west as far as Denver, Colorado, and was there induced 
to extend his trip to Salt Lake City. The President's party 
included his wife, Colonel Fred Grant and wife. General O. E. 
Babcock, Ex-Secretary of the Navy A. E. Borie, and Gov- 
ernor John M. Thayer, of Wyoming. The date of their arrival 
^^■as the third of October. The party was met at Peterson, a 



*Judge Emerson was regarded as a sound jurist, and had an ex- 
peditious way of dispatching legal business that was very gratifying to 
attorneys, litigants, and persons awaiting trial in his court. It was in 
response to a special request from leading members of the Utah Bar, 
that Governor Axtell had given liim this temporary assignment. 



SlNI)k\ l-:\ I'XIS IN Till-: SI-'A/lMN'I'lIiS. 



303 



Un.ion I'acific Kailruad .slalinn in Wehcr Canyon, by Governor 
Emery and a committee of ten — all "(ientiles." At Ogden a 
committee representing Salt Lake City extended the municipal 
hospitalities lo the President and his suite, but an invitation 
from the Governor, to be his guests during- their stay, -had 
already been accepted. 

Among those who welcomed the Chief Magistrate at the 
junction City was President Rrigham Young, in whose party 
were John Taylor, (Jeorge Q. 
Cannon, Joseph F. Smith, and 
other prominent "Mt)rmons." 
The meeting between the two 
great men was cordial ; the 
"Mormon" leader remarking, as 
he took the proffered hand of 
the First Citizen of the Repub- 
lic: "President Grant, this is 
the first time I have ever seen 
a President of my country." 
After introductions and hand- 
shakes, all proceeded by train 
to the capital. 

It was the Sabbath day, 
and a great multitude, includ- 
ing hosts of Sunday School 
children, gave the honored 
guest an ovation as his carriage 
drove from the Utah Central 
Depot to the Walker House on 
Main Street. President and 
Mrs. Grant, with Governor 
Emery, rode behind four gray horses at the head of a long line 
of vehicles. Bowing and waving his hat in response to the 
salutes of the populace, the President, turning to the Gov- 
ernor, inquired, "Whose children are these?" "Mormon chil- 
dren," re])lied Emery. The Man of Appomattox gazed a few 
moments upon the scene of innocence and 1)eaut}', and then 
nmrmured, "I have been deceived." 

There was a reception at the hotel, where the President 
was introduced by the Governor from the balcony, but he de- 
clined to make a speech, pleading a severe cold. Next morn- 
ii:g he \isited the Temple grounds, the Tabernacle. Fort Doug- 
h'.s. and the Penitentiary. While listening to the Tabernacle 
Organ, which was played by Joseph J. Daynes, Mrs. Grant, 
tears filling her eyes, turned to Ex-Delegate Hooper and 
said with deep feeling: "T wish I could do something for these 
good Mormon people!" The partv had arrived on Sunday 




PRESIDENT GRANT. 



304 WHITNEY'S rOPl'LAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

afternoon. At 4 p. m. of Monday they set out upon their 
return to the East. 

Much of President Grant's prejudice a2;ainst Utah seems 
to luive melted during that visit. Never again did he manifest 
a harsh spirit toward the Territory and its people. Governor 
Ivmery stated to the present writer that Grant advised him. 
while here, t() "deal fairlv between man and man, avoiding all 
extremes."* 

A Sensational Period. — The closing part uf this decade 
was remarkable for the spirit of hostility everywhere prevail- 
ang against Utah and the "Mormons." The trial and execu- 
tion of John D. Lee, the chief actor in the Moimtain Meadows 
atrocity, seemed to increase rather than allay the ill feeling, 
which was largely the result of an unwarranted newspaper agi- 
tation, worked up by unscrupulous representatives of the press. 
One Jerome B. Stillson, who was sent to Salt Lake City in 1877 
as a special correspondent of the New York Herald, made that 
great journal ridiculous by the absurd Munchausenisms with 
which he filled its columns. He first reported that the "Mor- 
mons" were preparing for war, and urged the sending of an 
army to Utah. General Smith, at Fort Douglas, reported that 
all was quiet, and General Crook, sent out by the War Depart- 
ment, having ascertained the falsity of the Herald telegrams, 
reported thereon in such forcible language that Stillson had to 
change his tactics. He next asserted that efforts were being 
made to assassinate him, and showed an incision in his vest, 
with an indented suspender buckle and a slight abrasion of 
the skin, as proofs of an alleged attempt to stab him while in 
his room at the Walker House. An ofticial investigation ex- 
posed the fraud, and the Herald then withdrew its mendacious 
correspondent. f 

The Mountain Meadows Case.— Proceedings in the case of 
the United States versus John D. Lee and others, impleaded 
for the dreadful crime at Moimtain Meadows, began in the au- 
tumn of 1874, when Lee was arrested at Panguitch, Utah, by 

^Several years later General Grant, returning from his tour around 
tlie world, passed through Ogden, where his train stopped a short 
time, enabling him to give an informal public reception at the rear 
door of his private car. 

tThe Suspender Buckle canard, invented by Stillson, paired well 
with an earlier story originated by Dr. John P. Taggart, who in 1870 
was United States Assessor of Internal Revenue for Utah. Taggart, 
while playing with a pet bull dog, was bitten by the animal, and after- 
wards exhibited his wounded hand and torn shirt sleeve as evidence of 
an assault by "Mormon" assassins. Assessor Taggart, anticipating the 
action of Collector Hollister in the Z. C. M. I. "Scrip Case," made a 
futile attempt to compel the "Mormon" Church to pay an enormous 
tax on its tithing fund, consisting of voluntary donations by its mem- 
bers. 



SUNDin- I'A ICXTS IN TllK SEVENTIES. 305 

U. S. Deputy Marshal Stokes. He was indicted by a Grand 
Jury of "Gentiles" and "Mormons" — probably the first Grand 
Jury empaneled under the Poland Law — and was tried before 
Associate Justice Boreman, at Beaver. The first trial — for 
there were two — began and ended in the summer of 1875 ; the 
trial jury then consisting of eight "Mormons" and four "Gen- 
tiles." The attorneys for the defense were William W. Bishop 
and Enos D. Hoge; Sutherland and Bates also figuring on that 
side. United States Attorney Carey and R. N. Baskin con- 
ducted the prosecution. They did their utmost to convict — 
not John D. Lee, but the "Mormon" Church, and were aided 
sympathetically if not actually by the Judge upon the Bench. 
Li this connection, it is not too much to say, that the fanat- 
icism and ferocity of those who slew the unfortunate emi- 
grants, are fully equalled by the wolfish vindictiveness of those 
who have sought to substitute the innocent for the guilty, and 
judicially murder, not only individuals, but the good name of 
an entire community, for the misdoings of a few wretches who 
were once connected with it. 

Lee's Rejected Confession. — Lee had been induced to 
make a confession, which, had it implicated the General 
Church Authorities, would undoubtedly have resulted in his 
liberation, or in a greatly modified punishment. But the de- 
sired implication was lacking, and the confession was there- 
fore rejected by the prosecuting officers. Hoping to prove 
more than Lee's document contained, they released one of the 
most guilty of his confederates, Phillip Klingensmith, an apos- 
tate, and used him as a witness for the prosecution. At the 
same time the affidavits of Brigham Young and George A. 
Smith were excluded from the evidence. Everything was done 
to clothe with plausibility the skeleton of the old "Anti-Mor- 
mon" theory, that the "Mormon" Church was the real culprit 
in the case. The result was a disagreement of the jury, which 
stood nine for acquittal, and three for conviction. 

Tried on Its Merits. — Before any further proceedings in 
the case, there was a change of personnel in the United States 
Attorneyship. Mr. Carey retired, and Sumner Howard, of 
Michigan, was appointed to that position. His assistant at the 
second Lee trial was Presley Denney. In his opening state- 
ment to the jury, Mr. Hownrd remarked that he had not come 
to try Brigham Young and the "Mormon" Church, but to pro- 
ceed against John D. Lee for his personal actions. This was 
the first time that it had been proposed to try the case on its 
merits. Mr. Bishop conducted the defense as before, assisted 
by Wells Spicer and J. C. Foster. The following affidavits — 
excluded on the former occasion — were now admitted in evi- 
dence. 

\9 



30r. \\llI'l\l-:\-S POI'II.AR I IISTDK V OF UTAH. 



AFFIDAX IT OF RRIGllAM YOUNG. 

Questions to be propounded to Brigham Young on his examina- 
tion as witness in the case of John D. Lee and others, on trial at 
IJeaver City, Utah, this thirtieth day of July, 1875, and the said an- 
swers of Brigham Young to the interrogatories hereto appended were 
reduced to writing, and were given after the said Brigham Young had 
been duly sworn to testify to the truth in the above entitled cause, 
and are as follows: 

First. — State your age, and the present condition of your health, 
and whether in your present condition you could travel to attend in 
person at Beaver, the court now sitting there? If not, state why. 

Answer. — To the first interrogatory he says: 1 am in my seventy- 
fifth year. It would be a great risk, both to my health and life, for 
me to travel to Beaver at this present time. I am and have been for 
some time, an invalid. 

Second. — What ofifices. either ecclesiastical, civil or military, did 
you hold in the year 1857? 

Answer. — I was the Governor of this Territory, and ex-ofilcio 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and the President of the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, during the year 1857. 

Third. — State the condition of affairs between the Territory of 
Utah and the Federal Government in the summer and fall of 1857? 

Answer. — In May or June, 1857, the United States mails for Utah 
were stopped bj^ the Government, and all communication by mail 
was cut off; an army of the United States was en route for Utah with 
the ostensible design of destroying the Latter-day Saints, according 
to the reports that reached us from the East. 

Fourth. — Were there any United States Judges here during the 
summer and fall of 1857? 

Answer. — To the best of my recollection there was no United 
Slates Judge here in the latter part of 1857. 

Fifth. — State what you know about trains of emigrants passing 
through the Territory to the West, and particularly about a company 
fioni Arkansas, en route to California, passing through this city in 
the summer or fall of 1857? 

Answer. — As usual, emigrant trains were passing through our Ter- 
ritory for the West. I heard it rumored that a company from Arkan- 
sas, en route to California, had passed through the city. 

Sixth. — Was this Arkansas company of emigrants ordered away 
from Salt Lake City by yourself or anyone in authority under you? 

Answer. — No, not that I know of. I never heard of any such 
thing, and certainly no such order was given by the Acting-Governor.* 

Seventh. — Was any counsel or instruction given by any person to 
the citizens of Utah not to sell grain, or trade with the emigrant trains 
passing through Utah at that time? If so, what were those instruc- 
tions and that counsel? 

Answer. — Yes, counsel and advice was given to the citizens not 
to sell grain to the emigrants to feed their stock, l)ut let them have 
sufficient for themselves if they were out. The simple reason for this 
was that for several years our crops had been short, and the prospect 
was at that time that we might have trouble with the United States 
army, then en route for this place; and we wanted to preserve the 



*Governor Young refers to himself as "Acting Governor." His 
successor. Governor Gumming, appointed in July, 1857, did not arrive 
in Utah until November of that vear. 



SUNDRY I'A EXTS IN TilK SEVENTIES. 307 

grain for food. The citizens of the Territory were counseled not to 
feed grain even to their own stock. No person was ever punished or 
called in question for furnishing supplies to the emigrants, within mj- 
knowledge. 

Eighth. — When did you first hear of the attack and destruction of 
tlie Arkansas company at Mountain Meadows, in September, 1857? 

Answer. — I did not learn anything of the attack or destruction of 
the Arkansas company until sometime after it had occurred, — then 
only by a floating rumor. 

Ninth. — Did John D. Lee report to you at any time after this 
massacre what had been done at that massacre, and if so, what did 
you reply to him in reference thereto? 

Answer. — Within some two or three months after the massacre 
he called at my office and had much to say in regard to the Indians, 
tlieir being stirred up to anger and threatening the settlements of the 
whites, and then commenced giving an account of the massacre. 1 
told him to stop, as from what I had already learned by rumor 1 did 
not wish my feelings harrowed up with a recital of the details. 

Tenth. — Uid Philip Klingensmith call at your office with John D. 
Lee at the time of Lee making his report, and did you at that time 
order Smith to turn over the stock to Lee, and order tlicm not to talk 
aiiout the massacre? 

Answer. — No, he did not call with John D. Lee, and I have no 
recollection of his ever speaking to me or I to him concerning the 
massacre, or anything pertaining to the propert)^ 

Eleventh. — ^Did you ever give any directions concerning the prop- 
erty taken from the emigrants at the Mountain Meadows massacre, or 
know anything as to its disposition? 

Answer. — No. I never gave anj' directions concerning the prop- 
erty taken from the emigrants at the Mountain Meadows massacre, 
nor did I know anything of that property or its disposal; and I do not 
to this day, except from public rumor. 

Twelfth. — Why did you not. as Governor of Utah Territory, in- 
stitute proceedings forthwith to investigate that massacre and bring 
ihe guilty authors to justice? 

Answer. — Because another Governor had been appointed by the 
President of the United States, and was then on the way here to take 
my place, and I did not know how soon he might arrive, and because 
tlie United States judges were not in the Territory. Soon after Gov- 
ernor Gumming arrived, I asked him to take Judge Cradlebaugh, who 
belonged to the southern district, with him, and I would accompany 
tlicm with sufficient aid to investigate the matter and bring the offen- 
ders to justice. 

Thirteenth. — Did you, about the tenth of September, 1857, receive 
a communication from Isaac C. Haight, or any other person of Cedar 
City, concerning a companj' of emigrants called the Arkansas com- 
liany? 

Answer. — I did receive a communication from Isaac C. llaiglit. or 
John D. L^e, who was then a farmer for the Indians. 

Eourteenth. — Plave you that communication? 

.Answer. — I have not. I have made diligent search for it, l)u\ 
cannot find it.* 

Fifteenth. — Did you answer tliat communication?' 

.Answer. — -I did, to Isaac C. Haight, who was then .Acting-Presi- 
dent at Cedar City. 

Sixteenth. — Wil) you state the substance of your letter to him? 



*The letter was afterwards found and published, as stated in 
Chapter XIII of this History, p. 140, Note. 



308 \VH1TNE^••S lH)Pi;i.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Answer.— Yes. It was to let this company of emigrants, and all 
companies of emigrants, pass through the country unmolested, and to 
allay the angry feelings of the Indians as much as possible. 

(Signed) Brigham Young. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 30th day of July, A. D. 
1875. William Clayton, Notary Public. 

AFFIDAVIT OF GEORGE A. SMITH. 

George A. Smith having been first duly sworn, deposes and says: 
That he is aged fifty-eight years; that he is now and has been for 
several months suffering from a severe and dangerous illness of the 
head and lungs, and that to attend the court at Beaver, in the present 
condition of his health, would in all probability end his life. Deponent 
further saith that he had no military command during the year 1857, 
nor any other official position except that of one of the Twelve Apos- 
tles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Deponent further saith that he never, in the year 1857, at Parowan 
or elsewhere, attended a council where William H. Dame, Isaac C. 
Haight or others were present to discuss any measures for attacking 
or in any manner injuring an emigrant train from Arkansas or any 
other place, which is alleged to have been destroyed at Mountain 
IVIeadows in September, 1857. Deponent further saith that he never 
heard or knew anything of a train of emigrants, which, he learned 
afterwards by rumor, was from Arkansas, until he met said emigrant 
train at Corn Creek on his way north to Salt Lake City, on or about 
the 25th day of August, 1857. Deponent further saith that he en- 
camped with Jacob Hamblin, Philo T. Farnsworth, Silas S. Smith and 
Elisha Hopps, and there for the first time he learned of the existence 
of said emigrant train and their intended journey to California. Depo- 
nent further saith that, having been absent from the Territory for a 
year previous, he returned in the summer of 1857 and went south to 
visit his family at Parowan, and to look after some property he had 
there, and also visit his friends and for no other purpose; and that on 
leaving Salt Lake City he had no knowledge whatever of the e.xistence 
of said emigrant train, nor did he acquire any until as before stated. 

Deponent further saith that, as an Elder in the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints, he preached several times on his way 
south, and also on his return, and tried to impress upon the minds of 
the people the necessity of great care as to their grain crops, as all 
crops had been short for several years previous to 1857, and many of 
the people vere reduced to actual want, and were suffering for the ne- 
cessaries of life. Deponent further saith that he advised the people to 
furnish all emigrant companies passing through the Territory with 
what they might actually need for bread stuff, for the support of them- 
selves and families while passing through the Territory, and also ad- 
vised the people not to feed their grain to their own stock, nor to sell 
it to the einigrants for that purpose. 

Deponent further saith that he never heard or knew of any 
attack upon the said emigrant train until some time after his 
return to Salt Lake City, and that while near Fort Bridger [now in 
Wyoming] he heard for the first time that the Indians had massacred 
an emigrant company at Mountain Meadows. 

Deponent further saith that he never, at any time, either before or 
after that massacre, was accessory thereto; that he never, directly or 
indirectly, aided, abetted or assisted in its perpetration, or had any 
knowledge thereof, except by hearsay; that he never knew anything of 
the distribution of the property taken there, except by hearsay as 
aforesaid. 



SUNDRY EVENTS IN THE SEVENTIES. 309 

Deponent further saith that all charges and statements as pertain- 
ing to him, contrary to the foregoing, are false and untrue. 

CSigned) George A. Smith, 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of July, A.D. 1875. 

William Clayton, Notary Public. 

Other Testimony. — Then followed other documentary evi- 
dence, and the examination of witnesses, namely, Daniel H. 
Wells, Laban Morrill, James H. Haslam, Joel White, Samuel 
Knight, Samuel McMurdy, Nephi Johnson, and Jacob Ham- 
blin. General Wells, who resided at Salt Lake City, testified 
that John D. Lee, in 1857, was a farmer among the Indians, 
and had been a Major in the Utah Militia. The other wit- 
nesses were all residents of Southern Utah at the time of the 
tragedy. Their evidence substantiated the facts set forth in 
Chapter Thirteen of this History. 

The Jury and the Verdict. — The jurors were all "Mor- 
mons," namely: William Greenwood, John E. Page, A. M. 
Farnsworth, Stephen S. Barton, Valentine Carson, Alfred Ran- 
dall, James G. Montague, A. S. Goodwin, Ira B. Elmer, An- 
drew A. Correy, Charles Adams, and Walter Granger. These 
men, having heard the testimony and deliberated four hours 
thereon, brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree. The 
date of the verdict was September 20, 1876. 

Lee Sentenced. — I>ee was sentenced to be shot ; he having 
chosen that method of execution. Judge Boreman, while pro- 
nouncing the sentence, made a fanatical attack upon the "Mor- 
mon" Church and its leading authorities, virtually accusing 
them of the crime for which Lee was about to suffer. The 
Supreme Court of the Territory affirmed the judgment of 
the District Court. The case against the principal defendant 
having been disposed of, the other indictments were dismissed. 
Lee, pending his execution, was kept at Fort Cameron, a mil- 
itary post near Beaver.* 

*Fort Cameron had been (.■stablislicd by order of ihc War Depart- 
ment, pursuant to suggestions from Judge Hawley and Governor 
Woods, who represented that "without the presence of the military 
in that remote portion of the Territory," it would "be utterly impossi- 
ble to enforce the law." Secretary Belnap endorsed the suggestion, 
and in May, 1872, a small detachment of troops camped upon the foot- 
hills at the mouth of a canyon about two and a half miles east of 
Beaver. There, in September, 1873, the construction of barracks began, 
and in the following July the post was named Fort Cameron, after a 
veteran officer of the United States Army. Tiie fact that Fort Cam 
eron was a superfluous as well as an expensive institution soon be- 
came apparent. John D. Lee was the only important prisoner ever 
kept there. In a few years the post was abandoned; its buildings pass- 
ing into the possession of leading citizens, who purchased lliem from 
tlie Government and devoted them to school purposes. The Murdm-k 
Academy is now conducted there. 



310 WIIITNKVS Pol'l'I.AK 1 1 ISTORY OF UTAH. 

A Dramatic Execution. — The responsibility of carrying 
out the sentence of the Court devolved upon the United States 
Marshal, Colonel William Nelson, who had held that office 
since March, 1876. Nelson followed Maxwell, who had been 
removed early in February; financial crookedness in the Mar- 
shal's office causing the change.* Nelson, like Maxwell, was a 
Civil A\'ar veteran. Prior to coming West, he had been the 
editor of a Republican paper at La Crosse, Wisconsin. He 
succeeded not only to Maxwell's position, but to the bitter en- 
mity felt by the latter toward the people among whom he 
had made his home. Nelson endeavored to secure from Lee, 
after his conviction, a confession implicating the "Mormon" 
leaders in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Every effort to 
that end having failed, there being nothing of the kind to con- 
fess, it l)Ut remained to put a dramatic denouement to the pro- 
ceedings, and create as much sensation as possible out of the 
act of execution. This is why Lee expiated his crime on the 
scene of its occurrence — Mountain Meadows — where he was 
shot to death March 23, 1877. 

More "Confessions." — Several books, each purporting to 
be "The Confession of John D. Lee," made their appearance 
just as soon as it was safe to publish them, without fear of 
contradiction from Lee himself. Death had no sooner sealed 
his lips, than these so-called "confessions," like mushrooms, 
started up on every hand. Most of them are manifest frauds, 
made — like the razors that wouldn't shave — "to sell." The one 
■nearest authentic, was published by Lee's lawyer, Mr. Bishop ; 
but even that is n(^t above suspicion. 

Dr. Clinton's Imprisonment. — Continuing the quest after 
acceptable "confessions," the United States Marshal, in July, 
1877, took into custody Dr. Jeter Clinton, for many years Po- 
lice Justice of Salt Lake City, but at the time of his arrest pro- 
prietor of Clinton's Hotel, at Lake Point. Rumor had charged 
the Doctor with the killing of John Banks, one of the "Mor- 
risite" leaders, wounded in the melee following the surrender 

*Tlicre was no imputation of di.shoncsty as to Genera! Maxwell 
himself. The accusations were against certain persons employed by 
him, who had taken advantage of his loose method of conducting bus- 
iness. The exposure was brought about through the efforts of Deputy 
Marshals Jerome B. Cross and Arthur Pratt. The Grand Jury, after 
a searching investigation, reported that the Marshal's books, by false 
entries, represented unpaid accounts as settled, and that out of $13,200 
allowed for the expenses of the court at Beaver, only about eight 
thousand dollars had been accounted for. 

Congress, that year, diverted to the use of the Federal Courts the 
amount necessary to pay the expenses of the Utah Legislature; that 
body having failed to provide the usual funds. Subsequently the Leg- 
islature made the necessary provision, but its members were never 
compensated bv Congress for their labors during that session. 



SUN^R^■ I'AI'.XTS IX Tfll": SEVENTIES. 



311 



of Kington Fort. It had been alleged that Banks was not 
fatally wounded at that time, but was subsequently "put out 
of the way." Dr. Clinton was kept a prisoner for several 
weeks, during which time repeated efforts were made to in- 
duce him to give information implicating persons "higher in 
authority." But no such information was elicited, and nothing 
came of the attempt to fasten guilt upon the Ex-Aldcrman. A 
suit for false imprisonment and maltreatment followed his lib- 
eration, but the Court — Chief Justice SchaefTer — decided at the 
hearing that the Marshal had not exceeded his duty in his 
treatment of the prisoner. 

Death of Brigham Young. — On Wednesday, August 29, 
1877, President Brigham Young died at his residence, the Lion 
House, in Salt Lake City. He was in his seventy-seventh 
year, having been born June 1st, 1801, at Whitingham. Wind- 
ham County, Vermont. The funeral of the departed leader 




PRKSIDEXT BRIGHAM VOUXC 



312 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

was held in the Tabernacle on Sunday, September 2nd ; the in- 
terment taking place in the Young Family Cemetery, on First 
Avenue. President Young was widely and deeply mourned. 
As much as any man may be said to have created a common- 
wealth, he had created Utah ; and the people who had loved 
him in life lamented him in death.* 

Final Labors of Utah's Founder. — President Young's la- 
bors during the closing years of his life included an earnest 
effort to establish a social system approximating to one intro- 
duced by his predecessor, President Joseph Smith, in Ohio 
and in Missouri. The wonderful success of Co-operation en- 
couraged the belief that "The United Order" might be perma- 
nently established. "Our object," said President Young, "is 
to labor for the benefit of the whole ; to retrench in our expen- 
ditures ; to be prudent and economical ; to study well the ne- 
cessities of the community, and pass by its many useless 
wants; to secure life, health, wealth and union." In May, 1874, 
a general organization was effected, with Brigham Young as 
"President of the United Order in all the World." Branch 
organizations were formed throughout the Church. This effort 
to realize an ideal still cherished by the "Mormon" people was 
not destined to achieve lasting success; though in some places 
the Order, or certain phases of it, continued for a number of 
years — notably at Orderville, Kane County, and at Kingston, 
Piute County, Utah; also at Sunset, Arizona, one of several 
settlements founded along the Little Colorado River, by Lot 
Smith and a company of colonizers, sent from Utah in 1876. 

A movement more fruitful of results "was undertaken in 
the autumn of that year, by the veteran educator. Dr. Karl G. 
Maeser, acting under instructions from President Young. Dr. 
Maeser, assisted by A. O. Smoot and others, founded at Provo 
the Brigham Young Academy (since University), now the 
crowning institution of a great Church school system, compris- 
mg the Brigham Young College at Logan, the Latter-day Saints' 
University at Salt Lake City, and manv vStake Academies and 
other schools scattered through the Rocky Mountain region. 
The purpose of these institutions is religious as well as secular 
education. Some of them were endowed by President Young, 
and all are maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints. 

In 1875-76 arose the Mutual Improvement Associations, 
flourishing at the present time among the young men and 
women of the Church, and owing their initiative to the great 



*Among the prominent Churchmen who liad preceded him into 
the spirit world was his First Counselor, President Heber C. Kimball, 
whose dca'h nccnrred June 22, 1868. George A. Smith, who succeeded 
Hobcr C. Kimliall in ilu- Fir-l Presidency, died September 1, 1875. 



SUNDRY EXEXTS IN THE SEVENTIES. 



313 



founder and organizer. A forerunner of the Young Ladies' 
was the Retrenchment Association, formed in 1869-1870, un- 
der President Young's personal direction. It inculcated econ- 
omy of labor and reform in dress, with a view to lightening 
the duties of the over-worked housewife, and giving to moth- 
ers and daughters more time for mental and spiritual cul- 
ture. The Retrenchment Association supplemented in the field 
of vyoman's work the Relief Society, a benevolent organization 
dating from the days of Nauvoo. 

On New Year's Day, 1877, President Young dedicated part 
of the St. George Temple, then near completion, and during 
the following April the General Conference of the Church 
was held within that edifice, the first of its kind erected in 
Utah. The remaining months of the President's life were de- 
voted to a more thorough organization of the Stakes of Zion. 
At Brigham City, on Sunday, August 19th, he made his last 
public address. Six days before his death he attended a 




ST. GEORGE TEMPLE. 

meeting of Bishops in the Council House, where a committee 
was appointed to superintend the removal of the Old Taber- 
nacle and the erection in its place of the Assembly Hall. Re- 
turning home, he bade those about him good night^ and retired, 
remarking as he went : "I think I shall now go and take my 
rest." That night his final illness seized him — cholera morbus, 
or. as some have since believed, appendicitis. 

"Mormonism" Survives. — Predictions had been plen- 
tiful that "Mormoiiism" would not sur\i\c the loss of its lead- 



314 WHITXEVS POPl'I.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

ing spirit, "^^'hen falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall," was 
a proverb widely paraphrased with reference to the death of 
Brigham Young and the expected dissolution of the Church 
over which he had so long presided. Faction and schism, 
it was thought, would prove fatal to the perpetuity of the organ- 
ization. All these suppositions were groundless. There were 
no rival claimants to the Presidency, and no differences of 
opinion among priesthood or people as to who should preside 
over them. With the death of Joseph Smith, and the conse- 
quent disorganization of the First Presidency at that time. Brig- 
ham Young, as president of the Twelve Apostles, the council 
next in authority, had become the head of the Church by vir- 
tue of seniority among his fellows. That precedent was now 
followed. 

President John Taylor. — ^John Taylor, who succeeded 
Brigham Young, was an Englishman, but had spent most of 
his life upon American soil. He had been intimate with Joseph 
Smith in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, sharing wnth the Prophet 
his imprisonment in Carthage Jail, and receiving in his body 
four of the bullets fired by the mob at the time his leader was 
slain. President Taylor, though now in his sixty-ninth year, 
was still a strong man, with a brave heart and an iron will, 
readv to graj^ple with the responsibilities cimfronting him. 







BRIGHAM YOUNG'S GRAVE 
lie casket containing his remains rests in a vault beneath a granite slab inside the 

iron paling. 



XXIV. 

DEAD AND LIVING ISSUES. 

1878-1881. 

Clearing the Docket. — The trial and execution of John D. 
Lee was followed by judicial action in a number of other old- 
time criminal cases, some of them based upon dead and all but 
forgotten issues. The prosecuting officers were determined to 
clear the docket of these ancient entries, and the parties chiefly 
concerned were not sorry that the matters involved were about 
to lie finallv adjudicated.* 

The Aiken Case. — -The next case that came to trial was 
one based upon facts that may be stated briefly as follows. 
During the year 1857, in the midst of the Echo Canyon War 
trouble, a party of five or six men, including John and Thomas 
Aiken, entered Utah from the West. Having no passports, 
and the Territory then being under martial law, they were 
arrested in Box Elder County and taken to Ogden. Set at 
lil)erty, they traveled southward, in company with guides em- 
[.loyed by themselves, and in due time reached Nephi and pro- 
ceeded some distance beyond. The day after their departure 
from Nephi, John Aiken and a companion returned wounded 
to that place, and after receiving medical attention, started 
for Salt Lake City. Then came a report that the party had 
been killed by their guides, presumably for plunder. Among 
those said to have been included in the escort were Sylvanus 
Collett and Porter Rockwell, and at the expiration of twenty 



*The Moutitain Meadows case was still pending, when one of 
these cases was disposed of in the District Court at Salt Lake City. 
The defendant was Colonel Thomas E. Ricks, a former Sheriflf of 
Cache County. He was charged with shooting a horse thief, one 
David Skeene, on the night of July 2nd, I860: Skcene being then in 
the custody of the Sheriff at Logan. It was alleged that the shooting 
took place while the prisoner was asleep in an old log school house 
serving as a jail. According to the Sheriff's account, Skeene ran 
towards him, as if to snatch his revolver, and he shot him in self 
defense. At an inquest held one day after the killing. William Cham- 
bers, one of the guards, corroborated this statement, and his testimony, 
with that of others, brought from the coroner's jury a verdict^ that 
Skcene came to his death while attempting to escape fronu the officers. 
F.ut Chambers was now in a mood to testify that lie had perjured 
himself on the former occasion, and that the shooting of tlie prisoner 
was not justifiable. He was tlie main witness for tlie prosecution. 
The case was tried before .Associate Justice Emerson, on the 18th of 
March, 1875. Carey and Baskin were the prosecutors: and Sutherland, 
Bates and Snow the counsel for the defense. Colonel Ricks was 
acquitted. 



316 WHITNEVS I'Ol'lLAK 1 1 ISTOKY OF UTAH. 

years these men were indicted for the crime. Several months 
before the time of the trial Rockwell died at Salt Lake City. 

Collett was tried at Provo, before Associate Justice Emer- 
son, in October, 1878. The case was prosecuted by United 
States Attorney Phillip T. Van Zile, formerly of Michigan, 
who had succeeded Sumner Howard in the previous March. 
The defendant, by his attorneys, Tilford and Hagan, was able 
to prove an alibi, showing that when the alleged murder was 
committed he was hundreds of miles from the scene of the 
tragedy. An acquittal followed. 

General Burton's Vindication. — The most important trial 
in this series of prosecutions was that of General Robert T. 
Burton, the queller of the "Morrisite" rebellion. Proceedings 
against him had begun in September, 1870, when he was in- 
dicted for one of the homicides connected with that unfortu- 
nate afifair. Before further steps could be taken, however, the 
Englebrecht decision rendered the process null and void. Sev- 
eral years later, under another indictment, the defendant was 
arrested and admitted to bail in the sum of twenty thousand 
dollars. 

General Burton was tried in the District Court at Salt 
Lake City, the same court which had issued the mandate, for 
the carrying out of which he was now charged with murder — 
the killing of Mrs. Bella Bowman, one of the "Morrisite" 
women shot at the capture of Kington Fort. Chief Justice 
Schaefifer presided at the trial, which began February 20, 1879, 
in the presence of a jury composed equally of "Mormons" and 
"Gentiles." The prosecution was conducted by U. S. Attorney 
Van Zile, assisted by James H. Beatty; and the defendant's 
counsel were Tilford and Hagan. J. G. Sutherland, P. L. Wil- 
liams, and W. N. Dusenberry. 

Mr. Beatty, in the opening statement to the jury, declared 
that General Burton went to Kington Fort at the head of "a 
large band of militia," but failed to mention that he went as 
an officer of the law, acting under judicial orders; an omission 
supplied bv Judge Sutherland when it came his turn to address 
the jury. The prosecution endeavored to prove that the de- 
fendant shot Mrs. Bowman without provocation, simply for 
making a disrespectful remark after the killing of the "Mor- 
risite" leader. 

The defense admitted that General Burton was at Kington 
F'ort, and that Morris, Banks, Mrs. Bowman and a Mrs. 
Swanee were killed there ; but the facts did not show that they 
v.^cre murdered. Judge Sutherland maintained that General 
Burton was a humane man, slow to anger, ri\ersc to the shed- 
ding of blood, and that he had made ever}' effort for an amic- 
alile settlement of the difficultv. flaving entered the fort after 



DKAl) AND IJ\[NG ISSUES. 317 

the surrender, not with his whole command, as alleged, but 
with only twelve or fifteen men, he saw a rush of the "Mor- 
risites" for their arms, and ordered that they be stopped. A 
volley was fired and the two women were killed by accident. 

The defendant, sworn as a witness, admitted shooting- 
Morris, but denied firing at anyone else. He did not see any 
woman at the time, nor did any woman address him. 

Judge Tilford closed a masterly plea for the defendant 
with these thrilling words : "We demand his acquittal, as due 
to the welfare of the Territory, the security of life, and the 
enforcement of right ; we demand it as due to the court, whose 
mandate placed him in the very peril that compelled the hom- 
icide; we demand it as due to the law, whose process he was 
executing when resistance was offered ; we demand it as due to 
humanity, whose noblest impulses are outraged by the prose- 
cution of one whose only ofifense consisted in discharging his 
duty." 

On the 5th of March the case was given to the jury. Two 
days later they came into court, and by their foreman, Joseph 
Gorlinski, a "Gentile," presented a verdict of not guilty. The 
announcement was greeted with loud applause, and the de- 
fendant was overwhehned with congratulations. 

The Coalville Affair. — Several other persons were under 
indictment for the killing, in 1867, of Isaac Potter and Charles 
Wilson, who, with one John Walker, had been arrested and 
imprisoned at Coalville. The building in which they were 
kept was a rock school house, in temporary use as a jail. It 
was charged that the prisoners were ordered out into the street 
one night by a part}^ of men, who killed two of the three ; the 
survivor. Walker, also being wounded, but escaping and mak- 
ing his way to Camp Douglas. Upon his affidavit the defend- 
ants had been arrested and examined before Chief Justice 
Titus, who committed them to the care of the Territorial 
Marshal, pending the action of the Grand Jury. It transpired 
that Potter, Wilson and Walker were cattle thieves, and it was 
claimed that they had been shot by their guards while attempt- 
ing to escape. The accused parties were conveyed to the 
Penitentiary, but on arriving there, took leave of the officer 
having them -in custody, and returned to their homes; subse- 
quently notifying the court and the public, through the press, 
that they would appear whenever wanted. The Coalville case 
never came to a jury trial ; the indictments found by the Grand 
Jury being dismissed on motion of the U. S. Attorney. 

The Reynolds Case Decided. — Turning now from dead 
issues to live ones. The final decree in the Reynolds case, 
upon which the Anti-Bigamy Law had been taken before the 
Supreme Court of the United States, was delivered on the 6th 



318 wiirrxi':\'s ih )i'ii,Ak iiisk )kv of utaii. 

of January, 1879. It confirmed the rulings of the Utah courts, 
and declared constitutional the law of Congress enacted 
against plural marriage. The decision, which was unanimous 
but for the non-concurrence of Mr. Justice Field upon a minor 
point, was voiced by Chief Justice Waite. 

The Taylor-Hollister Interview. — A few days after the 
decision was rendered, a notable interview took place between 
President John Taylor, the head of the "Mormon" Church, 
and Colonel O. J. Hollister. United States Internal Revenue 
Collector for Utah. The meeting, which had been solicited by 
Colonel Hollister as correspondent of the New York Tribune, 
was at the President's Office; a number of prominent men, in 
addition to the two principals, taking part. Asked as to 
whether he disagreed with Judge Waite's statement of the 
scope and efifect of the Constitutional guarantee of religious 
freedom, President Taylor answered in the affirmative, and 
added : "A religious faith amounts to nothing unless we are 
permitted to carry it into efifect. * * * They will allow us 
to think — what an unspeakable privilege that is! — But they 
will not allow us the free exercise of that faith, which the Con- 
stitution guarantees." Of the extended conversation that 
ensued, the following is a sufficient digest: 

Colonel Hollister: "Is it not true that marriage is the 
basis of society; that out of it spring the social relations, obli- 
gations, and duties with which governments must necessarily 
concern themselves? And is it not therefore within the legiti- 
mate scope of the power of every civil government to deter- 
mine whether marriage shall be polygamous or monogamous 
under its dominion?" 

President Taylor: "When the Constitution of the United 
States was framed and adopted, those high contracting parties 
did positively agree that they would not interfere with relig- 
ious afifairs. Now, if our marital relations are not religious, 
v/hat is? This ordinance of marriage was a direct revelation 
to us through Joseph Smith the Prophet. You may not know 
it, but I know that this is a revelation from God and a com- 
mand to His people, and therefore it is my religion. I do not 
believe that the Supreme Court of the United States has any 
right to interfere with my religious views, and in doing it they 
are violating their most sacred obligations." 

Colonel Hollister : "If marriage can be legitimately called 
religion, what human relation or pursuit may not be so called? 
And if everything is religion, and the State is prohibited from 
interfering with it, what place is there left for the State?" 

Elder Charles W. Penrose: "That is easily answered. 
When one's religion presumes to interfere with the rights and 
liberties of rtthers." 



DKAl) AX I) I.IXING ISSUES. 319 

Colonel llollister: "I think it [polygamy] interferes with 
the rights of men and women, because when a man marries 
a second woman, some other man must do without any. The 
sexes are born in about equal numbers." 

President Taylor: "It is well known that there are scores 
of thousands of women in these United States who cannot 
obtain husbands, and the same also in England and other 
Christian countries. And. furthermore, we regard the plural 
order of marriage as being voluntary, both on the part of the 
man and the woman. If there should be any disparity such 
as you refer to — if there should not be two wives for one man, 
why then he could not get them." 

Colonel Hollister: "Do you regard polygamy as worthy 
of perpetuation at the cost of perpetual antagonism between 
your people and their countrymen?" 

President Taylor: "We are not the parties who produce 
this antagonism. Our revelation, given in August, 1831. spe- 
cifically states that if we keep the laws of God we need not 
break the laws of the land. Congress has since, by its act. 
placed us in antagonism to what we term an unconstitutional 
law. Congress, indeed, can pass laws, and the Supreme Court 
can sanction those laws ; but while they have the power, being 
in the majority, the justice of those laws is another matter." 

Colonel Hollister: "Do you regard polygamy as superior 
to monogamy, as the form or law of marriage, and if so 
wherein?" 

President .I'aylor : "I regard it as altogether superior to 
the law of monogamy, in a great many particulars. There is 
in all monogamic countries, the United States not excepted, a 
terrible state of things arising from the practice of monogamy. 
We acknowledge our children ; we acknowledge our wives ; we 
have no mistresses. We had no prostitution until it was in- 
troduced by monogamy. Polygamy is not a crime per se 
[in itself] ; it was the action of Congress that made polygamy 
a crime. The British Government allows one hundred and 
eighty millions of their people to practice it, and by the law 
protects them in it. It is very unfortunate that our republican 
government cannot be as generous to its provinces as a 
monarchial government can be to its colonies." 

Colonel Hollister : "You hold. then, that the condemnation 
of polygamy by all Christian nations is without reason and 
wisdom, and contrary to the spirit of revelation?" 

President Taylor : "We most assuredly do." 

Colonel Hollister: "Is not, in fact, what you call revela- 
tion the expression of the crystallized public sentiment of your 
people ; and if a majority of them should desire to abandon 



320 Wliri'NRVS l"(_)L'll..\U IIISKjKN ()!• UTAH. 

polygamy, would what is called revelation deter them from 
doing so?" 

Elder Joseph F. Smith: "It is very unfair in you, Mr. 
Hollister, to even think that a people who have suffered as we 
have for our faith, having been driven five different times from 
our homes and suffered even to martyrdom, should be insincere 
in our belief. Questions you have asked here repeatedly imply 
that we could get up revelations to suit ourselves." 

Colonel Hollister: "What eft'ect, on the whole, do you 
apprehend Chief Justice Waite's decision will have on the 
question?" 

President Taylor : "I don't know that it will have any 
effect, except to unite us and confirm and strengthen us in 
our faith." 

Sentence Modified.— The sentence imposed upon the de- 
fendant Reynolds included "hard labor," which was found to 
be in excess of the law. For this reason an effort was made 
to have the case reopened and the proceedings quashed. The 
Court at Washington refused to issue such an order, but re- 
manded the case to the Supreme Court of Utah, with instruc- 
tions to so amend the sentence as to omit the words "hard 
labor." A petition, signed by more than thirty thousand citi- 
zens, asking for the defendant's pardon, was forwarded to 
the President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes; but 
the request was unheeded. 

Reynolds in Prison. — George Reynolds was re-sentenced 
June 14, 1879. Shortly after, under an order from the Depart- 
ment of Justice, he set out for Lincoln, Nebraska, in charge of 
Deputy Marshals George A. Black and William T. Shaugh- 
nessy. He remained at Lincoln twenty-five days, acting as 
book-keeper for the State Prison, and was then brought back 
to Utah and placed in the Penitentiary, where he served out 
the remainder of his term, barring one hundred and forty-four 
days, remitted on account of good behavior. His fine was also 
remitted. 

The United States Marshal at that time was Colonel 
Michael Shaughnessy, who had arrived from the East early in 
April, 1878. With him came "General" Butler, a bluff, kind- 
hearted old veteran, who for several years was Warden of the 
Penitentiary. Butler and his wife, also the guards, treated Mr. 
Reynolds kindly, permitting him, out of consideration for his 
good conduct and the circumstances surrounding his case, un- 
usual privileges. While in prison he wrote for the press and 
taught school, having the other inmates as students. His ex- 
ample and instructions had such an effect that the Warden 
was wont to say : "Reynolds is worth more than all the 
guards in keeping order among the prisoners." 



DEAD AXn 1,1\-TNG ISSUES. 321 

The Miles Case. — Another case of polygamy had its 
inception in October, 1878; John H. Miles, a resident of St. 
George, being the party defendant. The case originated at 
Salt Lake City, where Miles was arrested and had a hearing 
before U. S. Commissioner E. T. Sprague, prior to his indict- 
ment by the Grand Jury. The evidence showed that the de- 
fendant and Miss Caroline Owen, late of London, England, 
bad been married in the Endowment House; the ceremony 
]>eing performed by General Daniel H. Wells, formerly chief 
c^fficer of the Utah Militia, and one of the First Presidency of 
the "Mormon" Church; but at this time holding the position of 
Counselor to the Twelve Apostles. Mrs. Miles alleged that 
on the same day, and just prior to her own marriage, her hus- 
band had wedded Miss Emily Spencer, also of St. George. 
The complainant had not witnessed the ceremony, but declared 
that she had consented to it, and had seen Emily at the En- 
dfiwment House that day. When she (Caroline) was married. 
Counselor Wells had said to Miles: "Your first wife ought to 
be present at this ceremony;" and during a reception held that 
evening Emily Spencer was referred to as "Mrs. Miles." Fol- 
lowing a disagreement between the two women, Caroline went 
next morning to the United States Marshal, and made allega- 
tions resulting in the arrest of her husband for polygamy. 

Almost immediately she sought to retrace this step, with a 
view to protecting the man she had married. She wrote a 
letter, which was published in the Salt Lake Herald, denying 
all that she had previously asserted to the injury of her hus- 
band. They became reconciled, and she accompanied him to 
his home in Southern Utah. Soon, however, she again left 
him, and at the time of his trial was as much opposed to hi»- 
as before. 

Before Judge Emerson.- — The Miles trial took place befor- 
Associate Justice Emerson, at Salt Lake City, beginning late 
in April, 1879. The purpose of the prosecution was to prove a' 
marriage between John Miles and Emily Spencer, for only 
upon that basis could the defendant be convicted of polygamy. 
His marriage with Caroline Owen was conceded, and her testi- 
mony was therefore objected to by the defense, since a wife 
could not legally testify against her husband. The marriage 
with Miss Spencer was denied, and to show that it had taken 
place just before the other ceremony, was the aim of the prose- 
cuting officers. 

At the trial Caroline Owen Miles gave what purported to 
be a description of the apparel worn by those passing through 
the Endowment House, her testimony having special reference 
tf) the dress of Emily Spencer. The prosecution sought to 

ao 



322 Will rXI'.N'S I'Ol'll.AK 1 1 ISK )RY Ol- UTAH. 

show thai such a costume was invariabl)' worn in that place 
by persons going there to be married, and to estal)lish this 
point and corroborate the testimony of Mrs. Miles. Cotuiselor 
Wells was called to the stand. In answer to questions from 
United States Attorney Van Zile, the witness stated that it 
was customary for persons married in the Endowment House 
to wear certain robes. He was then asked to describe the 
robe, but declined to do so. The Court decided that the ques- 
tions were proper, but still the witness refused to answer. Ad- 
judged in contempt, he was committed to the custody of the 
Marshal. Later, how^ever, he was released and given an op- 
portunity to purge himself of the contempt.* 

Imprisoned for Contempt. — It was the third day of May, 
when General A\'ells, with his attorneys, appeared before Judge 
Emerson, and stated that he would try to answer the ques- 
tions that had previously been propoiuided. Accordingly they 
were put to him again, but in such a w^ay that he felt com- 
pelled to reiterate his refusal, declaring himself under a sacred 
obligation to preserve secret what he was now asked to reveal. 

Mr. Van Zile : "Then we are to understand that you have 
taken an oath not to reveal what takes place in the Endowment 
House?" 

General Wells: 'T did not say so — I said a sacred obliga- 
tion. I consider it as sacred as any oath taken in a court of 
justice." 

Judge Emerson informed the witness that he had not 
purged himself of contempt, but by his present attitude was 
again in contempt. 

General Wells: 'T consider any person who reveals the 
sacred ceremonies of the Endowment House, a falsifier and a 
perjurer, and it has been and is a principle of my life never to 
betray a friend, my country, my religion, or my God." 

Subsequently the defendant filed an affidavit, disclaiming 
any intentional disrespect to the court, and stating that he 
declined to answer the questions wholly upon conscientious 
grounds. He was willing to testify to any material fact not 
covered by a previous obligation, and had he been interrogated 
while on the witness stand, would have stated that persons 



*The Endowment House, which stood on the northwest corner of 
Temple Block, served the Latter-day Saints in lieu of the Salt Lake 
Temple until that edifice was completed. Therein were performed 
religious rites and ceremonies, such as baptisms, ordinations, and mar- 
riages, including vicarious work for the dead. It was regarded as 
reprehensible in the extreme for one who had "passed through the 
House'" to reveal what they saw and heard there. The proceedings 
were sacred to those who believed in them, as much so as are the 
ceremonies and obligations of Free Masonrv to its votaries. 



IM^.AD AND 1.1\ INc; ISSUES. 323 

passing- through the Endowment House wore special garments, 
which were precisely the same whether the wearer was there 
to be married or was present for some other purpose. Those 
married were not distinguished by any difference in dress. 

The affidavit was supplemented with an argument from 
tlie defendant's attorney, Judge Sutherland, to the effect that 
tlie c|uesti(~)ns put to the witness were irrelevant, immaterial, 
and unimportant ; and it was contended that the same delicate 
consideration should be shown to what he religiously cher- 
ished, as was due to all other private and sacred affairs not 
within the proper scope of judicial inquiry. 

Judge Emerson : "The question at issue is not a personal 
one between the defendant and myself, but between the de- 
fendant and the court as a representative. General Wells has 
defied the mandate of the court, and the supremacy of the law 
must be maintained. The question of the materiality of the 
inquiries is closed, and does not enter into this matter, but I 
am more firmly convinced than before that those inquiries are 
niaterial. It is a very disagreeable duty that I have to per- 
fiirm. but I have no alternative. It is ordered that the defend- 
ant pay a fine of one hundred dollars, and that he be impris- 
r)ned for a period of two days." 

A Great Ovation. — General Wells, in custody of Marshal 
."^haughnessy. was forthwith conveyed to the Penitentiary. 
Mis imprisonment caused a great sensation. The "Mormon" 
community was profoundly stirred, and the larger part of the 
population of Salt Lake City and neighboring towns turned 
out to welcome him on his release from prison. Fully ten 
thousand people marched in procession, and the immense 
pageant was witnessed by many thousands more. Midway, 
in an open carriage, rode the gray-haired General, in company 
with President Taylor and other leading men. who had met 
him at the Burton Farm, three miles south of the city. They 
escorted him to the Tabernacle, where his entrance into the 
thronged auditorium was the signal for tremendous and pro- 
longed applause. Music and speeches followed, bringing the 
reception to a close. 

The Salt Lake Herald, describing the event, said: "We 
question if the world has ever liefore seen an impromptu dem- 
oristration of this magnitude and this character where nothing 
was said or done that could be found fault with, or which gave 
no occasion for alarm." The Salt Lake Tribune denounced 
the whole affair as "a public defiance of the national judicial 
authorities." That paper also asserted that the Stars and 
Stripes were trailed in the dust bv some person in the proces- 
sion. Rut this was a mistake. There were many American 
flags in that procession, but they were borne aloft, not trailed 



324 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

in the dust. The present writer was there, and saw it all.* 
Miles Convicted. — The Miles trial, out of which grew this 
stirring episode, ended while the procession was marching up 
Main Street. As it passed the Federal Court Room, which 
was then in the Wasatch Block at Second South Street, a 
placard announcing a verdict of "Guilty" was displayed from 
the balcony by an officer of the court. The defendant was 
sentenced to pay a fine of one hundred dollars, and to be im- 
prisoned for a term of five years. The Supreme Court of the 
Territory affirmed the decision, and an appeal was then taken 
to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Brigham Young's Estate in Litigation. — In Ji^ine, 1879, an 
important civil suit was planted in the Third District Court. 
The parties plaintiff were several of the heirs of the late Presi- 
dent Young, whose executors, George Q. Cannon, Brigham 
Young, Jr., and Albert Carrington, were proceeded against 
upon a charge of "wilfully wasting and converting" a large 
portion of the President's estate, by "pretending to allow" the 
sum of $999,632.90 on "a false and fraudulent claim" presented 
by the Trustee-in-Trust of the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Tatter-day Saints. Application was made for an injunction 
restraining the executors from the further performance of their 
duties, and enjoining President John Taylor, as Trustee-in- 
Trust, from disposing of any property consigned to him in the 
settlement of said claim. Judge Emerson granted the applica- 
tion, issued the injunction, and appointed two receivers, Wil- 
liam S. McCornick, banker, and United States Marshal 

*Here are a few samples of the mottoes carried in the proces- 
sion: 

"The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not sub- 
mit; we are answerable for them to our God." — Thomas Jefferson. 

"If ever the laws of God and men are at variance, the former are 
to be obeyed in derogation of the latter." — Blackstone- 

"Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord 
thine oaths." — God's Law. 

"Thou shalt forswear thyself, or go to prison." — Modern Law. 

"There is nothing more sacred than a religious obligation." 

"When Freemasons, Odd Fellows and others are compelled to 
mak-i their secrets public, it will be time enough to practice on Mor- 
mons; try the others first." 

"Better th'^ Penitentiary for faithfulness in this world, than the 
Prison-house for perjury in the next." 

"We do not care so much about the color and cut of aprons as we 
do about justice and equal rights." 

■'The dignity of courts will never be upheld by persecution and 
proscription." 

"While we contend for religious liberty, we do not rebel against 
the Government " 

"We venerate the Constitution, we honor the law, we respect the 
Executive, Congress and the Judiciary; we bow to the righteous man- 
dates of the law, but we despise bigots, we execrate tyranny, and 
])rotest against intolerance from any source." 



\)K.\\) AND LIVING ISSUES. 



325 



Shaui^hnessy, to take charge of all property involved in the 
litigation. 

President Taylor, in his reply, showed that the claim 
against the Estate was "a bona fide existing indebtedness," 
representing the value of property held by the late President 
in trust for the Church. It had been fully recognized as a 
liability by President Young, whose will authorized his exec- 
utors to settle all such trusts. President Taylor therefore 
a.?ked that the injunction be dissolved, the order appointing 
receivers revoked, and the action dismissed at plaintiffs' cost. 
The Executors, in a separate answer, corroborated President 
Taylor's statement. 

Executors Imprisoned. — Then came the arrest of the 
Trustee-in-Trust and the Executors, for failing to turn over 
certain properties ; the warrant being issued by Judge Bore- 
man, who had temporarily succeeded Judge Emerson. Presi- 
dent Taylor, having shown that he had complied with the 
order of the court as far as possible, was discharged from cus- 
tody, but the Executors, for refusing to furnish additional 
security, were committed to 
the Penitentiary. There they 
remained until the 28th of 
August, when Judge Boreman's 
order was reversed and set 
aside by the Supreme Court of 
the Territory.* 

Settled by Agreement. — ■ 
The suit of the Heirs versus the 
Executors, with a counter-suit 
brought by the Church for the 
recovery of its property, was 
settled by agreement between 
the parties. The final decree 
in the case, dated October 4, 
1(S79. was issued by Chief Jus- 
lice John A. Hunter. Judg^- 
1 funter was from Missouri, and 
had arrived in Utah during the 
previous summer. 

Governor Murray. — The 
successor to George W. Emery governor Murray. 

*During the litigation George Goddard, who had charge of the 
Black Rock House and grounds on the southern shore of the Lake, 
holding the proiierty under a deed from the Trustee-in-Trust. was 
arrested and iniprisimed for refusing to surrender il. The cliarge 
against him was contempt of court, luit he was Iil)erated, and the case 
dismissed, as soon as the Marsha! had secured possession of the 
property. 




326 WHITNEY'S i'Ol'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

as Governor of Utah was Eli II. Murray, of Kentucky, re- 
putedly the handsomest man in the Blue Grass State. He was 
indeed fine looking, and possessed a genial, jovial nature. 
Hospitable and convivial in disposition, he easily made friends, 
and as a rule they remained loyal and devoted to him. Some- 
thing of a journalist and a lawyer, though not distinguished as 
either, Murray, during the Civil War, had been one of Sher- 
man's officers in his famous "March to the Sea." Subsequently 
he was United States Marshal of Kentucky. The date of his 
arrival at Salt Lake City was February 29, 1880. 

The Year of Jubilee. — That year was a notable one in 
Utah. It witnessed "The Mormon Jubilee," commemorating 
the fiftieth anniversary of the Church of the Latter-day Saints ; 
and there was also an elaborate celebration of Pioneer Day. 
It was during the General Conference in April that President 
Taylor brought the subject of the Jubilee before the vast con- 
gregation, reminding them of the custom in ancient Israel 
to observe every fiftieth year by proclaiming "liberty through- 
out all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." At such 
times poor debtors were released, bondmen freed, lost inherit- 
ances restored, and a season of general rejoicing inaugurated. 
He and his associates had thought that the close of "Mor- 
monism's" first half century should witness something of like 
character. 

The proposition was timely and appropriate, for during the 
previous year a drouth, followed by a severe winter, had caused 
considerable suffering in some parts. President Taylor 
suggested, as measures of relief: First, the remission ■ of 
one-half the indebtedness due to the Perpetual Emigrating 
Fund Company, amounting to $802,000; Second, the remission 
of one-half the amount of unpaid tithing, equivalent to ^75,- 
899.00; Third, the distribution by the Church to the poor, of 
one thousand head of cows and five thousand head of sheep ; 
Fourth, a loan by the Relief Societies, to farmers needing seed 
grain, of the wheat stored up bv those societies, amounting to 
34,761 bushels. 

These measures having been approved by the Conference, 
the President continued the subject, advising the rich and 
prosperous to forgive their poor debtors, and suggesting that 
Z. C. M. I. set an example among business houses, by can- 
celling upon its books the accounts of those who were unable 
to make settlement. 

"The Tree of Liberty." — July came, and with it a "Gen- 
tile" observance of Independence Day, an exclusive affair, t<» 
which no "Mormon" was bidden. The program was rendered 
on Washington Square, since adorned l)y the stately Salt Lake 



HEAL) AND Ll\ IXG ISSUES. 



327 



C'it\- and County lUiilding-. Mr. P. L. Williams was orator 
ot the day, and Governor Murray also addressed the open air 
assemblage. The oration by Mr. Williams was eloquent, and 
of course patriotic, containing nothing to offend any person 
or class. But the Governor let play his poetic fancy in an 
allusion to "The Tree of Liberty," as being "rich enough in 
timber to construct scaffolds and coffins for all those who may 
treasonably conspire to break down our Constitution and to 
^'iolate its written laws." Nobody was frightened at the 
gruesome metaphor, though some thought it in bad taste, 
particularly at such a time. The Deseret News, knowing 
the target of the intiendo, took occasion to inform his Excel- 
lency that just such talk had been heard in years past from men 
who had since gone the way of all flesh and were slumbering 
in forgotten graves, while the object of their attack was still 
alive and flourishing. The answer of the Pioneer Dav Com- 
mittee was a polite invitation to Governor Murrav and his 
friends to take |)art in the ajiproaching celebration. 

Acceptance Not Acted Upon. — The Governor responded 
with an equally polite note of acceptance, in which he gra- 
ciously said a good word for the Pioneers. Similar com- 
munications were received from nearly all the local represen- 
tatives of the Federal Government. Not one of them, how- 
ever, attended the celebration ; just why, is not verv clear. 




.SAi.r i.AKF. cnv .\.\[) co^^"r^■ imildixg. 



328 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

since "Mormons" and "Gentiles" had more than once coalesced 
on such occasions, and were destined to do so again and again. 
A tentative explanation is that events were on the wing which 
made it undesirable, from the "Anti-Mormon" point of view, 
for Guelf and Ghibelline to unite and thus convey the impres- 
sion to the country at large tliat all was well in Utah. 

Twenty-Five Nations Represented. — The Pioneer Day 
celebration was probably the most complete and successful 
affair of its kind that Utah had known. Conspicuous in the 
long pageant parading the streets of the capital, were three 
floats carrying natives of various countries then represented in 
the population of the Territory. These nationalities numbered 
twenty-five — a man and a woman to each. The nations rep- 
resented by them were the United States, the American In- 
dians, Canada, Hawaii, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, 
Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, 
Iceland, Schleswig-Holstein, Russia, Ancient Britain, England. 
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, British India, and Aus- 
tralia. Upon one of their banners was inscribed the prophetic 
legend: "I will gather you out from all nations." 

Past and Present Conditions. — Part of the program was 
rendered in the Tabernacle, the interior of which presented a 
striking spectacle. At the west end, in living pictures, was 
portrayed Utah, or the country embraced within her boun- 
daries, as the Pioneers found it, and as it had since become 




IN IliRlOR OF THE TABERNACLE. 



DEAD AND LIVING ISSUES. 



329 



under the blessini;' of Providence and the industry of the peo- 
ple. At one side of the organ, under a scroll bearing the date 
1847, was a pine grove, surrounded by sage brush, with figures 
of deer, buffalo, and other wild animals showing among the 
branches ; while near by arose a wickiup or tepee, before which 
sat an Indian family. On the other side, under the date 1880, 
stood a handsomely furnished modern dwelling, surrounded 
with exotics, house plants, and various kinds of flowers and 
garden shrubbery, forming an arbor under which were seated 
women and children. Over all hung the Stars and Stripes. 
Fcrty-two of the original Pioneer Company, including one of 
its three women, Mrs. Clara Decker Young, were present on 
the occasion. 

Another Presidential Visit. — The Jubilee Year was ren- 
dered still more interesting by a visit from the President of the 
United States. It was the 5th of September, when President 
Ilayes, accompanied by his wife. Secretary of War Ramsey, 
General Sherman, General A. McDowell McCook and others, 
reached Salt Lake City, en 
route to the Pacific Coast. The 
first news of their coming had 
been received by General Smith 
at Fort Douglas, and as early 
as the 20th of August, at a 
meeting of Federal officers and 
other "Gentile" citizens in the 
Walker House parlors, a com- 
mittee had been formed to make 
arrangements for their recep- 
tion. Governor Murray was 
the chairman. 

The Municipal Authorities 
had also taken steps to honor 
the Chief Magistrate by tender- 
ing the usual courtesies. Their 
committee, which included rep- 
resentatives of all classes, had 
been instructed to invite Fed- 
eral and Fort Douglas officers to participate, 
morz Little sent a telegram to the President, tendering to him 
arid his party the hospitalities of Salt Lake City, but received 
the reply that by prior arrangement he was to be the guest of 
the Governor of the Territorv. "I hope you are acting in 
concert." was the concluding sentence of the President's dis- 
patch. The Mayor and his associates, having no alternative, 
abandiiued their preparations, and as private citizens joined 
with the people in giving welcome to the Nation's Chief. 




¥0^ ■ 



PKLSIL'KM HAYES. 



Mayor Fera- 



330 WIIITXEVS f(3PULAK HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Governor Murray and his committee met President Hayes 
at Weber Station (Morgan), a small railroad town east of 
Ogden. At the latter place the visitors were received by 
President John Taylor, General Daniel H. Wells, Delegate 
George Q. Cannon and others, who had taken a special train 
from the capital for that purpose. Between Ogden and Salt 
Lake multitudes of people, including many children, greeted 
th.e President and Mrs. Hayes, who hailed the little ones with 
genuine delight. 

After leaving the train the President and his party, run- 
ning the gauntlet of public salutation, were driven to the 
Walker House, where the guest of honor came out upon the 
portico, and was introduced by Governor Murray to the crowd 
thronging the street and sidewalks. It being the Sabbath, 
President Hayes excused himself from making a speech, but 
uttered a few words in praise of all that he had beheld in Utah, 
thanking the people for their hearty welcome and kind recep- 
tion. Secretary Ramsey and General Sherman each spoke 
briefly, and Mrs. Hayes, in response to a general call, appeared 
and smilingly bowed in acknowledgment of the three hearty 
cheers given in her honor. 

Monday's proceedings in- 
cluded a visit to Temple Block, 
a public reception at the Walk- 
er House, and a drive to Fort 
Douglas, where the President 
took luncheon. At one p. m. he 
continued his journey. 

Other Notable Comers. — 

Between the visits of President 
Grant and President Hayes, the 
most notable arrivals in Utah 
were Baron Lionel de Roths- 
child, "the modern Midas." 
and Dom Pedro, Emperor of 
Brazil. Within the next few 
vears came Henry Ward Beech- 
er, t(^ lecture in the Salt Lake 
riieatre ; Edwin Booth, who 
])layed an engagement there ; 
and Adelina Patti, the first 
great prima donna to sing in 
the Tabernacle. 

President Taylor and Coun- 
selors installed. — The month following the visit of the Hayes 
party witnessed the formal installation of John Taylor as 




DEAIJ AND LIVING JSSUES. 331 

President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
He chose George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith as his Coun- 
selors, and on the 10th of October, the fifth day of the Gen- 
eral Conference, which was held as usual in the Tabernacle, 
the three were presented and sustained as the First Presidency 
of the Church. 

End of the Miles Case. — In April, LSSl, the Supreme Court 
of the United .States handed down its decree in the Miles case. 
It held that an error had been committed in the trial court by 
allowing" Caroline Owen to give evidence against Miles, touch- 
ing his alleged marriage with Emily Spencer, since the law in 
Utah provided that a wife should not be a witness for or 
against her husband, or vice versa. "The marriage of Miles 
with Caroline Owen," said the Court, "was charged in the 
indictment, and admitted by him upon trial. The fact of his 
previous marriage with Emily Spencer was therefore the only 
issue in the case, and that was contested to the end of the trial. 
Until the fact of the marriage of Emily Spencer with Miles 
was established, Caroline Owen was prima facie his wife, and 
.'^he could not be used as a witness." The case was remanded 
for a new trial, but none took place. The United States 
Attorney felt that a conviction was impossible, and the prose- 
cution was therefore abandoned. 



XXV. 

THE ANTI-POLYGAMY MOVEMENT. 

1878-1882. 

"Gentile" Women Organize. — ^Just after the preliminary 
examination in the Miles case, an organization styling itself 
"The Anti-Polygamy Society" was formed among the "Gen- 
tile" women of Salt Lake City. This Society, which became 
national in its scope and activities, played a prominent part in 
the general movement that soon began for the suppression of 
the practice of plural marriage. At the first meeting of the 
Anti-Polygamists, which was held in the Congregational 
Church (Independence Hall) November 7, 1878, about two 
hundred persons were present, mostly women. Mrs. Sarah A. 
Cooke, who had once been a "Mormon," presided on that oc- 
casion. The Secretary of the Society was the wife of General 
Moses M. Bane. Receiver of the United States Land Office.* 

To the Women of the Nation. — The members of the Anti- 
Polygamy Society, signed and sent forth a document addressed 
"To Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes and the Women of the United 
States." Therein they referred to polygamy as "a great 
crime," and declared that it had never taken such a debasing 
form among any people above the condition of barbarism as 
in Utah. Then followed this comment: "That it should be 
practiced in the name and under the cloak of religion, and that 
an Apostle, a polygamist with four acknowledged wives, is 
permitted to sit in Congress, only adds to the enormity of the 
crime, and makes it more revolting to our common Christian 
principles." In the closing paragraph they called upon "the 
Christian women of the United States" and "every minister of 
the Gospel," to join "in urging Congress to empower its courts 
to arrest the further progress of this evil, and to delay the 
admission of Utah into Statehood until this is accomplished." 
Copies of the address, and of a memorial to Congress asking for 
legislation that would render effective the Anti-Bigamy Law, 
were circulated throughout the United States for signatures. 



*An assault by this lady's step-son, Dr. Harry Bane, upon the 
person of Mr. A. M. Musser, owing to certain articles communicated 
to and published in the Salt Lake Herald, was one of the exciting 
incidents of that time. At the close of Bane's examination in the 
Police Court, Musser returned the assault, using tijion liis anta.gonist 
the same Avhip that had figured in the original allack I'.olh parties 
were held to answer to the Grand Jury, but nothing moru ranic of the 
affair. 



THE AN'll-l'UlA'CiAMY iMOVEMENT 



333 



This action was supplemented by the establishment of a 
paper called "The Anti-Polygamy Standard," and the sending 
of lecturers (women) through the Eastern States, to awaken 
an interest in the cause. Two of these lecturers were Mrs. 
Jennie Froiseth and Mrs. A. G. Paddock. The result was the 
formation of many branch societies, all modeled after and 
drawing- inspiration from the parent organization in Utah. 
The institution in its entirety was known as "The Women's 
National Anti-Polygani}^ Society." 

A Counter Demonstration. — The first noticeable efifect of 
the agitation was a counter movement among the women of 
the "Mormon" community, 
who, thronging the Salt Lake 
Theatre on the 16th of Novem- 
ber, put the stamp of their em- 
phatic disapproval upon the 
aims and methods of the Anti- 
Polygamists. Their address, 
was characterized as "false and 
misleading," and resolutions 
were adopted affirming a belief 
in plural marriage and denying 
the allegations made against it. 
Among the speeches delivered 
was one by Eliza R. Snow, the 
leading "Mormon" woman of 
the period. A memorial to Con- 
gress was adopted, asking that 
body not to enact the legisla- 
tion that had been suggested. 
The signers of the memorial 
also requested that the elective 
franchise be conferred upon the 
women of the Nation. 

The Evarts Circular.— eliza r. snow. 

During the following summer 

an official letter was issued by Secretary of State William M. 
Evarts, instructing representatives of the United States in 
various European nations to ask of the governments at whose 
courts or in whose shipping ports they discharged their func- 
tions, to assist in suppressing "Mormon" emigration to this 
country. The reason assigned for the proposed embargo was 
that the "Mormons" were devotees of a faith that tolerated 
polygamy, which had been made by the laws of the United 
States a crime. It was assumed that all "Mormons" believed 
in and would practice polygamy, and that those who designed 




3.U W liri\l':\'S I'ol'lM.AK HISTORY OF UTAH. 

cniigraliiii; to Utah were therefore prospective violators of the 
I'V'deral Statutes. 

The proposed punishment (hy embargo) of men and 
women for crimes they were suspected of intending- to com- 
mit, was rather a new doctrine to American minds, and more 
or less novel to European intellects. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the E^■arts Circular became a subject for criti- 
ci.sm and even ridicule among statesmen and diplomats the 
world over. 

Gladstone and "Mormon" Emigration, — Premier Glad- 
stone, when requested to pre\ent }'oung women in Great 
Britain from emigrating to Utah, replied : "I presume the 
young people go there of their own accord." To this common- 
sense conclusion of England's "Grand Old Man," be it added 
that the Latter-day Saints have never put forth any special 
efforts for the conversion of women ; all sensational tales to 
the contrary notwithstanding. "Mormon" missionaries preach 
to and baptize both sexes, but are under strict instructions not 
to receive into the Church any married woman without the 
consent of her husband, nor young people of either sex who are 
under age without the permission of their parents. 

Presidential Recommendations. — In December, 1879, Pres- 
ident Haves included in his message to Congress a reference 
to polygamy, recommending that "more comprehensive and 
searching methods for preventing as well as punishing this 
crime be provided." That was nine months before the Presi- 
dent visited Utah. Soon after his return from the West he 
addressed to Congress his final message, containing similar 
suggestions. What President Hayes said upon the subject, 
was virtually repeated by his successor, President Garfield, in 
his inaugural address, and by President Arthur in his first 
message to Congress. 

Scope and Purpose. — It began to look as if the local move- 
ment were but the opening skirmish to a general assault all 
along the line (^f the "Mormon" defenses, ecclesiastical and 
political. And such, indeed, it proved to be, whether con- 
certed or otherwise. The Anti-Polygamy Society, with its 
api)arent object — the expulsion or exclusion from Congress of 
the Delegate from Utah — played into the hands of, and was 
virtually an adjunct to. the "Anti-Mormon" political party. 

People and Liberals. — In the autumn of 1880, by the usual 
overwhelming majority, George Q. Cannon was re-elected 
Delegate to Congress. Already he had been chosen four times 
for the place, and twice after election his right to the seat had 
been contested; but after each contest he had been admitted 
to the House of Representatives and had served out his term. 



'i-iij-: ANTi i'( )|.\(;a.mv movement. 



ooo 



After the unsuccessful attempt to unseat him in 1874, there 
were two elections at which the Liberal Party failed to put up 
a ticket; and in Alarch, IS/O, the People's Party, under a new 
re,^istration law, rei^ained control of Tooele C/ounty. The 
Liberal nominee for Congress 
in LS80 was Allen G. Campbell, 
a rich mining- man of Southern 
Utah. Tuesday, November 2nd. 
was the date of the election; 
the time for choosing the Dele- 
gate having been changed from 
the month of August pursuant 
to an Act of Congress. 

The Election Returns. — 
(Jn the f()urteenth day of De- 
cember, in the presence of Gov- 
ernor Murray and others, the 
Secretary of the Territory, Ar- 
thur L. Thomas, opened the re- 
turns of the Novemloer elec- 
tion.* It was shown that 
George Q. Cannon had received 
18,568 votes, and Allen G. 
Campbell 1,357 votes, as Dele- 
gate to the Forty-Seventh Con- 
gress. The next thing in order, 
had the regular order been ob- 
served, was the issuance of a 

certificate of election, under the Congressional statute govern- 
ing in such cases, and wdiich provided as follows: 




GEORGE Q. CANNON. 



"Every Territory shall have the right to send a Delegate to the 
House of Representatives of the United States, to serve during each 
Congress, who shall be elected by the voters in the Territory qualified 
to elect members of the Legislative Assembly thereof. The person 
having the greatest number of votes shall be declared by the Governor 
duly elected, and a certificate shall be given accordingly." — Revised 
.Statutes of tlie United States, Section 1862. 

In this case "the person having the greatest number of 
\i)tes" was, of course, George Q. Cannon; and he, therefore, 
was entitled to the certificate. But it w-as not the purpose of 
the Governor of Utah to be guided by the law of Congress in 
dealing with this matter. 



*]\Ir. Thomas was a native of Chicago, Illinois, and had begun his 
official career as a page in the House of Representatives at Washing- 
ton. He was Secretary of Utah under Governor Emery, and continued 
in that office when Murrav became Executive. 



336 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Campbell's Protest. — Just before the opening of the re- 
turns, a document signed by Allen G. Campbell had been filed 
with the Secretary of the Territory. Therein Mr. Campbell 
protested against the issuance of the certificate to Mr. Cannon, 
and demanded that it be given to himself. The main ground 
of the protest was an allegation to the eft'ect that George Q. 
Cannon was not a citizen of the United States, and therefore 
not eligible to the oftice of Delegate. It was also contended 

that his ineligibility, resulting 
from alienage, was aggravated 
by polygamy, incompatible 
with citizenship and incon- 
sistent with an honest oath 
of allegiance to the Consti- 
tution. 

Cannon's Reply. — Dele- 
gate Cannon, to whom a copy 
of the protest was sent, for- 
warded his reply from Wash- 
ington, answering each alle- 
gation in its order. First, he 
denied the right of the Gov- 
ernor and the Secretary to "go 
behind the returns ;" their du- 
ties as canvassing officers be- 
ing purely ministerial. They 
had no judicial powers in this 
connection if the election re- 
turns were in substantial con- 
formity to law. It was the 
Governor's plain duty to give to "the person having the great- 
est number of votes" the certificate of election, and it remained 
for the House of Representatives, the only tribunal empowered 
to judge of the qualifications of its members, to decide any 
question of eligibility. 

In answer to the charge of alienage, Mr. Cannon declared 
that he was a citizen of the United States, and had proved it 
to the satisfaction of the House of Representatives, whose 
Committee on Elections of the Forty-fourth Congress had 
unanimously overruled this precise objection, made at that 
time by his opponent, Mr. Baskin. As to polygamy, the Com- 
mittee on Elections of the Forty-third Congress, when Mr. 
Maxwell was the contestant, had unanimously held, and the 
House had concurred in the view, that the only qualifications 
or disqualifications of Delegates were those prescribed by the 
Constitution for Representatives, and that polygamy was not 
a disqualification for a seat in the lower house of Congress. 




ALLEN G. CAMPBELL. 



THE ANTI-rOLYGAMY MOVEMENT. 337 

Mr. Campbell's claim that the certificate should be issued to 
him. involved the political heresy that the ineligibility of a 
candidate having the highest number of votes gave the election 
to an eligible candidate having a lower number of votes; a 
doctrine more than once repudiated by the Senate and House 
oi Representatives. 

The Defeated Candidate Declared Elected. — The presenta- 
tion of documents was followed by oral arguments. John R. 
McBride, a prominent attorney, appeared for the protester, 
while William H. Hooper and John T. Caine represented the 
absent Delegate. At the conclusion of the hearing Governor 
Murray rendered his decision — to this effect : George Q. Can- 
mm was an unnaturalized alien, and the credentials could not 
lawfully be given to one who was not a citizen of the United 
States. Mr. Cannon, being a polygamist, could not now be 
naturalized, since his marital relations were incompatible with 
an honest oath of allegiance to the Constitution. "It having 
been shown," said the Governor, "that Mr. Cannon is not a 
citizen, and that he is incapable of becoming a citizen, I cannot, 
under the law, certify that he is 'duly elected;' and Mr. Camp- 
bell, having received the greatest number of votes cast for any 
citizen, was therefore duly elected, and must receive the cer- 
tificate accordingly." Thereupon the document was awarded 
to Mr. Campbell ; its date being January 8, 1881. 

How the Act was Viewed. — Governor Murray's substitu- 
tion of the word "citizen" for the word "person," in the Act of 
Congress relating to election certificates, was prima facie proof 
that he had no right to do as he had done. The case stood 
thus: The candidate of his political party had been "snowed 
under" at the polls- — utterly vanquished; and this was Mur- 
ray's method of "snatching victory from the jaws of defeat." 
Not finding the law on his side, he bent the law to suit his 
purpose, as others had done before him. With him, as with 
them, "the end justified the means," and it was "lawful to do 
evil" in order that "good" might come. He was sworn to 
uphold the laws of his country, and in his Fourth of July 
speech, that year, had virtually threatened with "scaffolds and 
coffins" any who conspired to "break down" those laws. Yet 
he did precisely what he himself had condemned, thus setting 
an example of disobedience before those whose reclamation 
from "lawlessness" he professed to desire. Respect for law 
must be taught, if the process of teaching it broke every 
statute in the national archives. Such was the logic of the 
Governor's position. 

The belief was very general that Murray had exceeded his 
authority. President Hayes expressed that opinion in an in- 

21 



33S WHITNEVS I'Ol'ri.AU I IISTURY OF UTAH. 

tcrvievv with Delegate Cannon. Here are a few press com- 
ments upon the subject : St. Louis Globe-Democrat — "Gov- 
ernor Murray, of Utah, is on his way East to receive congrat- 
ulations for his conduct in giving a certificate of election to a 
man who had no title to it." Sacramento Record-Union — "All 
he had to do was to issue the certificate, and he has issued it, 
in defiance of the law, to the man who was defeated, instead 
of to the man who was elected." Chicago Times — "The man- 
ner in which Cannon has been treated is simply an inexcusable 
outrage." Boston Herald — "If Delegate Cannon was legally 
elected, he is entitled to his certificate. If he is disqualified by 
reason of felony or any other cause, Congress alone has the 
power to deny him a seat." New York Graphic — "A refusal 
of a certificate to Cannon would not warrant the granting of a 
certificate to Campbell." New York Tribune — "It is a pity 
that the opponents of polygamy should give their adversaries 
any advantage by taking a clearly untenable position. * * * 
The House will be compelled, as a matter of course, to refuse 
Campbell his seat." 

An Opposite Expression. — The Governor's friends, how- 
ever, voiced another ^'iew of the question. Some papers de- 
fended or palliated the course that he had taken. One of these 
was the Louisville Courier-Journal (Henry Watterson's paper) 
published in Murray's home State. In Utah the "Anti-Mor- 
mons" stood by him to a man. The Liberal Party, or the 
framers of its next political platform, warmly commended the 
Governor as "a faithful, fearless, and patriotic public officer," 
one who in the matter of the election certificate had "per- 
formed his official dutv in a bold, manlv, and patriotic man- 
ner." 

Murray's Plan a Failure. — Throughout the Nation the con- 
census of opinion was such that it soon became apparent that 
Governor Murray's plan for getting rid of the Delegate-elect 
and putting the minority candidate in his place, would not 
commend itself to the law-making powers at Washington. It 
was evident that some better way — some legal method must 
be found, to exclude the man whom the vast majority of the 
\ oters in Utah had chosen to represent the Territory in the 
halls of Congress. Such a method was eventually provided, 
and the desired object attained. Meanwhile the futile contest 
went on. 

A Point for the Delegate. — In February, 1881, while Gov- 
ernor Murray was absent from Utah, legal proceedings were 
instituted for the purpose of compelling Acting Governor 
Thomas to issue a certificate of election to George Q. Cannon. 
An alternative writ of mandate was issued, and the hearing 



TJJE ANTl-POLYGAMV AlOVEiMENT. o^'J 

took place before Associate Justice Stephen P. Twiss, who had 
recently succeeded Judge Boreman and was officiating tem- 
porarily at Salt Lake City. judge Twiss decided that the 
Court could not compel the Acting Governor to issue the cer- 
tificate. As Secretary, however, Mr. Thomas obligingly gave 
a certified statement of the number of votes cast for each can- 
didate at the election ; and this statement was forwarded to 
Washington. Upon the showing thus presented, the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives, Mr. George M. Adams, of Ken- 
tucky, placed the name of George Q. Cannon upon the roll of 
members at the opening of the Forty-Seventh Congress. 

Efforts to Retrieve. — Surprised by this sudden turn in 
affairs, the Liberal leaders sought at once to regain the lost 
ground which had slipped so unexpectedly from under the feet 
of their candidate. Efforts were made to induce Chief Justice 
Hunter to decree that George Q. Cannon was not an American 
citizen, and to enjoin him from drawing the salary and com- 
pensation pertaining to the office of Delegate. Judge Hunter 
granted the injunction, but subsequently it was dissolved, and 
the complaint dismissed. 

The Question of Citizenship. — George Q. Cannon's alleged 
lack of citizenship rested upon two grounds, both technical. 
He had been admitted a citizen in December, 1854, but the 
record of his admission was not in the Minute Book of the Dis- 
trict Court; it having been customary at that time to keep the 
record of naturalizations in a special book provided under an 
order issued by Associate Justice Shaver. This book, contain- 
ing the evidence of Mr. Cannon's citizenship, was presented to 
Governor Murray, who nevertheless declared that the court 
records failed to prove him a citizen. The other ground of 
objection was that George Q. Cannon, at the time of making 
oath that he had resided five years in the United States (the 
usual requirement made of foreign-born applicants for citizen- 
ship) had spent most of that period in the Hawaiian Islands. 
ui)on a mission for his Church. This showing was met by the 
argument that one's residence is where one's home is, and that 
Elder Cannon's home, during his mission, was in Salt Lake 
Valley, to which place he returned as soon as his mission 
ended. That view of the case had been taken by a Congres- 
sional committee in one of the former contests against him. 
and the decision was in his favor. 

A Crusade of Calumny. — Those who worked most zeal- 
ously for legislation that would punish polygamy and at the 
same time exclude the Utah Delegate, were not content to sub- 
mit to Congress and the country a mere statement of facts. 
A? usual when great changes, social, religious, or political, 
have been resolved upon, and the case against the people who 



o4u Will r.\i':\'s I'oi'i'LAK iiisrokY oi' u'r.\ii. 

happen to be the object of the revolutionary effort is not strong 
enough to' stand alone, gross exaggeration and flagrant false- 
hood were employed, in order to arouse and maintain the hos- 
tile sentiment upon which the movement depended for its suc- 
cess. A crusade of calumny was inaugurated, and priests, 
editors and politicians, in most parts of the country, engaged 
in it with a zeal rivaling that of John Brown and the Aboli- 
tionists, or of Peter the Hermit during the Mediaeval Cru- 
sades. 

Church Influence. — "Church influence," the use of which 
in politics was charged against the "Mormon" leaders, and con- 
stituted one of their cardinal crimes in the eyes of their oppo- 
nents, was freely and openly invoked for the overthrow of the 
political power of those leaders. The Anti-Polygamy Society, 
in its address "to the women of the Nation," had urged them 
to call upon "every minister of the Gospel" to join "in urging 
Congress to empower its courts to arrest the further progress 
of this evil." And the ministers promptly responded. Nearly 
all the Protestant churches of America, including those in 
Utah, took part in this Nation-wide movement, and from their 
pulpits, all over the land, an incessant verbal cannonade was 
kept up during the sessions of Congress in 1881 and 1882. Dr. 
Talmage, the great Beecher's noisy successor at the Brooklyn 
Tabernacle, wanted the United States Government to "thunder 
into" the "Mormons" "the seventh commandment," with "can- 
non of the biggest bore." Reverend Joseph Cook, of Boston, 
was equally splenetic and un-Christian. Several of the 
churches held conventions and passed resolutions against the 
religion of the Latter-day Saints. A Methodist Conference in 
Ogden, Utah, resolved that "polygamy should not be reasoned 
with, but stamped out;" an opinion which Dr. Newman, Orson 
Pratt's sometime antagonist, was supposed to share. 

The Deseret News, commenting upon this mixture of re- 
ligion with politics, said: "There is a big noise over an alleged 
connection between 'Mormonism' and Utah politics, while at 
the same time Methodism and other isms are interfering in 
national politics and urging legislation with all the church in- 
fluence they can command." 

A Notable Exception. — The Catholic Church took no part 
in these proceedings. Many years later, Bishop Lawrence 
Scanlan, of Salt Lake City, in conversation with an Eastern 
newspaper representative who had said to him "I do not see 
your name, Bishop, on protests and other papers that some of 
the ministers here are circulating," replied: "No, I never join 
in anything of that kind. My mission here is not to make war 
among the Mormon people, or any other people, but rather to 
he the bearer r»f the message of peace and good will toward all 



THE ANTl-l'C;LYGAi\lY MOVEMENT. 



341 



men. If there is any law to be enforced, I leave that for my 
Government to do."* 

Garfield's Assassination.— In the midst of the anti-"Mor- 
raon" furore, came the shock of President Garfield's assassina- 
tion, July 2nd, 1881, followed by his death in "September. The 
murderous assault upon the President took place just after the 
authorities of Salt Lake City had completed arrangements for 
the opening of Liberty Park on Independence Day. All was 
ready for that observance, when the awful news came, causing 
the celebration to be abandoned. Upon the issuance of Presi- 
dent Arthur's proclamation appointing a day of humiliation 
and mourning for the Nation's dead. President Taylor wrote 
to Governor Murray, tendering the use of the Tabernacle for 
general memorial services. The ofifer was declined, on the 
ground that previous arrangements with ministers of other 
churches prevented acceptance. The Latter-day Saints, as- 
sembling by themselves, appropriately honored the memory 
of the departed. 

The Boston Watchman's Canard. — While the Chief Mag- 
istrate, pierced by the assassin's bullet, was hovering between 
life and death, "The Boston 
Watchman" published a state- 
ment to the effect that "the 
Praying Circle of the Mormon 
Church was engaged in con- 
tinual supplications for the 
death of President Garfield." 
It declared that the Deseret 
News had said so. The News 
denounced the statement as an 
"atrocious untruth," and chal- 
lenged the Watchman to pro- 
duce its proof. This it could 
not do. The Baptist paper was 
but following the lead of other 
journals and periodicals which 
had begun a systematic course 
of misrepresentation, with the 
evident design of arousing pub- 
lic prejudice and forcing Con- 
gress to take action on the pending issue. f 

Partial Presentations. — Contributions upon the Utah sub- 
ject were srilicited by leading American magazines; but it 

*Nc\vark ("New Jersey) News, June, 190.3. 

tTalinn^e. the Brooklyn p.Tstor, went so far as to insinuate that 
the assassin of President Carflcld was a "Mormon:" an absurd allega- 
tion denied by Giiiteau liimself, from prison. 




PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 



342 wiirrxi'A's i'( )rii..\k history of utah. 

transpired that only a one-sided presentation was wanted in 
most cases. Articles from "Anti-Mormon" sources were 
welcomed, but those who pul)lished them refused any space 
for a reply. 

The Pistol and Bible Story. — Another extravagant tale 
that went the rounds purported to give the experience of a 
young Presbyterian clergyman, Duncan J. McMillan, who, it 
was said, went to Sanpete Valley in 1875, and established "the 
first school ever known there." The author of this romance 
related how Brigham Young, George Q. Cannon, and others 
repaired to Sanpete, and before a full congregation on the Sab- 
bath day urged the people to kill the unoffending minister. 
Thereafter three attempts were made upon the life of Mc- 
Millan, who withstood his assailants by holding a loaded pistol 
in one hand w^hile he preached to them with a Bible in the 
other. Affidavits from reputable citizens, "Gentiles" and 
"Mormons," punctured this falsehood, and at a public meeting 
in Mt. Pleasant, McMillan himself denied the truth of the 
story. He promised to publish his denial in the Utah papers, 
but failed to keep his word. There had been schools in San- 
pete Valley since the year 1850, and the Reverend McMillan 
had visited some of them. The Pistol and Bible canard was 
older than McMillan's day, having been invented by J. P. Ly- 
ford, a Methodist minister, who palmed it off as an experience 
of his own at Provo, Utah County. 

The Contest at Washington. — The Campbell-Cannon con- 
test had its opening debate in the national House of Repre- 
sentatives on the 6th of December, 1881. Proceedings con- 
tinued at intervals until April, 1882, the matter meanwhile 
being in the hands of the Committee on Elections, to whom it 
had been referred. Mr. Cannon's citizenship did not figure in 
any of the discussions. The whole debate hinged upon the 
question of polygamy. The Utah Delegate w^as reputed to be 
the husband of four wives; in fact, he admitted it. But there 
was no evidence that he had married since the enactment of 
the Anti-Bigamy Law. Consequently he was not a violator of 
that statute, which was not retroactive, and contained no allu- 
sion to polygamous cohabitation. More legislation was needed 
before the' Delegate could be disqualified from continuing to 
hold his seat; and the needed legislation came. A law was 
enacted while the contest against him was pending — a law de- 
signed especially to meet the case of the gentleman from Utah. 

The Edmunds Bill. — It was just a week after the begin- 
ning of the debate in the Utah election case, when Senator 
George F. Fdmunds. of Vermont, came forward with a meas- 
ure which, if enacted, w^uld effect Ihe exclusion fmni Congress 
'of the Apostle "with four nckiK iwledged wives." The Ed- 



THE AN ri-IHJl.VGAMV MOVEMENT 



.Uo 



nmnds Bill made punishaljlc, not only polygamy — the plural 
marriai^e itself- — but polygamous living, which it termed "un- 
lawful cohabitation." Those living in plural marriage rela- 
tions were made ineligible for public office "in, under, or for 
any Territory of the United vStates." It was this provision 
tliat determined the issue in the Cannon case. 

The Anti-Polygamists Again.— The day that the Edmunds 
Hill came before the Senate a souvenir from the Women's 
National Anti-Polygamy Society was laid upon the desk of 
each member of Congress. It consisted of a handsomely en- 
graved card, bearing on one fold, in printed crimson letters, a 
statement made by Delegate Cannon during the election con- 
test, wherein he admitted that he was a member of the Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; that in accordance with 
the tenets of that Church he had taken plural wives who now 
li\-ed with him and had borne him children ; and that in public 
addresses in Utah, as a teacher of his religion, he had defended 
the doctrine of plural marriage as a revelation from God. On 
the other fold, in golden letters, appeared the anti-polygamy 
paragra]')!! of President Arthur's message to Congress. 

President Arthur's Recommendation. — In that messai^e 
the President referred to the Supreme Court decision in the 
Miles case, and to the difficult)- 
of proving polygamous mar- 
riages. He recommended that 
an act be passed "providing 
that in the Territories of the 
United States the fact that a 
woman has been married to a 
person charged with l)igamy 
shall not disqualif\- her as a 
witness U]~)on the trial for that 
offense." He also urged the 
need of legislation that would 
require the filing of marriage 
certificates in the Supreme 
Court of the Territorx-. 

Memorials From Utah. — 
l^hc Utah Legislature forward- 
ed to Washins^ton memorials 
setting forth the true situation 
in this Territory, and entreat- 
ing Congress not to act hastily upon any extreme measure 
affecting the interests of its people. They also asked for the 
aT)p<~>iutnient of a committee of investigation. In various towns 
IMiblic meeting's were held, and four mammoth petitions, signed 
by sixt\-n\'e thoiT^and persons, were ])rcpared and sent to the 







PRF.-SIDENT ARTHUR. 



344 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Nation's capital, all protesting against the enactment of un- 
friendly legislation. These appeals were in vain. The only 
ones that made any impression were those that came from the 
opposite side, and mostly from people who knew little or 
nothing about affairs in Utah. 

Effects of the Agitation.- — As a result of the sensational 
proceedings that have been described, the public mind was 
much inflamed and embittered. Anti-"Mormon" mass meet- 
ings were held in Chicago, St. Louis, and other large cities. In 
some parts of the South missionaries from Utah were threat- 
ened, and the houses at which they stayed were beset by 
armed ruffians and riddled with bullets. Congress was fairly 
flooded with petitions from all quarters, praying for speedy 
action upon the burning question. 

Railroaded Through. — The Edmunds Bill was debated in 
the United States Senate on the 15th and 16th of February, 
1882. After passing that body, it went to the House, and was 
considered on the 14th of March. There the entire discussion 
occupied only about two hours, speeches being limited to five 
minutes each. Some of them were exceedingly bitter, notably 
those of Mr. Cassady, of Nevada, and Mr. Haskell, of Kansas. 
Having been "railroaded through" the House, the measure re- 
ceived the signature of President Arthur and became a law 
on the 22nd of March. 

Outline of the Edmunds Law. — The Edmunds Law de- 
clared that every person having a husband or wife living who 
thereafter married another, whether married or single, and any 
man who thereafter simultaneously or on the same day married 
more than one woman, in a Territory or other place over which 
the United States had exclusive jurisdiction, was guilty of 
polygamy, and was punishable by a fine of not more than five 
hundred dollars and by imprisonment for a term of not more 
tlian five years. Exceptions were made in cases where one 
party might have believed the other dead, or where divorce had 
l:cen granted by the valid decree of a competent court. 

Any male person cohabiting with more than one woman 
in a Territory or other place over which the United States had 
exclusive jurisdiction, was guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable 
to punishment by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, 
or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both 
said punishments, in the discretion of the court. 

In anv prosecution for bigamy, polygamy, or unlawful 
coliabitation, it would be sufficient cause of challenge to any 
person drawn or summoned as a juryman or talesman, first, 
that he was or had been living in the relations described, or, 
second, that he believed it right for a man to have more than 
one liNinij and un(li\-orcc(1 Avifc at llic same time, or to live in 



riiE AN'ri-i'()L\GAMV MOVEMENT. 345 

the practice of cohabiting with more than one woman. The 
person challenged was not bound to answer any cjuestion the 
answer to which might tend to criminate himself, but if he de- 
clined to answer on any ground he was to be rejected as in- 
competent. 

The President of the United States was authorized to 
grant amnesty to offenders against the anti-polygamy laws, 
upon such conditions and under such limitations as he might 
think proper; but no such amnesty was to have effect unless 
the conditions should be complied with. Polygamous children 
born before the first day of January, 1883, were legitimated. 

No polygamist, bigamist, or any person cohabiting with 
more than one woman, and no woman cohabiting with any of 
the persons described, was to be entitled to vote at any election, 
or to be eligible for election or appointment to, or be entitled 
to hold any civic office or position of public trust, honor or 
emolument, in, under or for any Territory of the United States. 

All registration and election offices in the Territory of 
Utah were declared vacant, and provision was made for plac- 
ing the duties pertaining to the same upon "proper persons," 
to be appointed by a board of five members, who were to re- 
ceive their appointment from the President, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate. Not more than three of this 
board of five were to belong to one political party. 

The Secretary of the Territory was to be the Secretary of 
the Board, and the Board was to canvass the returns of all 
votes cast at elections for members of the Territorial Legisla- 
ture, and to issue certificates of election to those who, being 
eligible, should appear to have been lawfully elected. The 
Legislative Assembly so constituted was empowered to make 
such laws, conformable to the Organic Act of the Territory 
and not inconsistent with other laws of the United States, as 
it should deem proper for filling the vacant offices. 

Each member of the Board was to receive a salary of three 
thousand dollars a year, and they were to continue in office 
until the Legislative Assembly, elected and qualified under the 
]irovisions of the Edmunds Law, should provide for filling the 
registration and election offices as authorized by that statute. 

The Denouement. — All was now ready for the winding 
up scene — the predetermined rejection of the Utah Dele- 
gate. Before final action was taken. Mr. Cannon, on the 10th 
of April, was permitted to address the House. Tie briefly 
sketched Utah's record in Congress, showing that the Terri- 
tcry had been represented bv four delegates, namely: John M. 
Bcrtihise!. John E. Kinney. William TL TTnoper and George Q. 
Cannon: the first and fourth polygamists. the other two mo- 
nc^gamists. .Denying that he rc])rescntc<l in Congress any re- 



346 WillTNEVS POPULAR iliSTORY OP UTAH. 

lig-ious body, he stated that all reputable male members of his 
Church held some office therein, a fact responsible for the sup- 
position that Church and Slate were united in Utah. All the 
forms of political procedure found in other Territories and in 
the States prevailed in this commonwealth, the political and 
religious organizations being entirely distinct from each other. 
Mr. Cannon defended plural marriage as a divine institution, 
and declared that the Edmunds Paw had been made retroactive 
in order to reach his case. He was there as the Delegate from 
Utah, regularly elected, properly qualified and fully entitled 
to the seat, his right to it having been vindicated by the House, 
which had permitted him to occupy it during the four preced- 
ing Congresses, when he came under precisely the same cir- 
cumstances as now. He denovmced the denial to him of the 
election certificate as a fraud, and his proposed exclusion as an 
effort to murder LTtah's representation upon the floor of the 
Plouse. 

1'he speech was listened to with profound attention, and 
at the close there was a hearty round of applause. The House 
then adopted a resolution reported by a majority of the Com- 
mittee on Elections, declaring vacant the seat of the Utah 
Delegate. Neither Mr. Cannon nor Mr. Campbell was per- 
mitted to occupy it. The "Mormon" was shut out; but Gov- 
ernor Murray's high-handed course in giving a certificate of 
election to a man who Avas not elected, received no vindica- 
tion.* 



*Delegate Cannon had many friends in Congress, and some of 
them, braving pnblic opinion and the wrath of their constituents, re- 
fused to vote for his exclusion. Others who did so vote, afterwards 
confessed to him privately, that in taking that course the\^ had j'ielded 
to popular clamor and "committed the most cowardly act of tlieir 
H>-es." 



XXVI. 

THE UTAH COMMISSION. 

1882-1883. 

Personnel of the Board. — The Board provided for in llic 
Edmunds Law, to have supervision of elections in this Terri- 
tory, became known as "The Utah Commission." It was 
originally constituted as follows : Alexander Ramsey, of Min- 
nesota; Algernon S. Paddock, of Nebraska; George L. God- 
frey, of Iowa; Ambrose B. Carlton, of Indiana; and James R. 



9r ^^^^1 





P;ii!<locl: (Secretary Tliomas) Ramsey riodfiLV PL-ttigio\v Carlton 

THE UTAH COMMISSION- 

Pi.'ttigrew, of Arkansas. These gentlemen arrixed at Salt 
Lake City en the 18th of August. 1882. 

Their faikire. to appear earlier upon the scene of tbeir 
lalxtrs gave rise to a complication, resulting in another Con- 
gressional enactment. For this, however, the Commissioners 
were not responsi])lc. Rather w.'us it due to President Arthur's 
delay in appointing them. The Ldmunds I'ill was signed bv 
the President in March, but it was not until lune that the 



348 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OP UTAH. 

Board was appointed, and not until July that its members re- 
ceived their credentials. This was too late for the regular 
revision of the registration lists prior to the summer elections. 
The President's delay was doubtless owing to his desire to 
obtain suitable men for the places. For that reason, also, he 
afterwards advised an increase in the salaries of the Commis- 
sioners ; a suggestion acted upon by Congress, the figure being- 
raised from three thousand to five thousand dollars a year. 

Congressional Action Invoked. — -The immediate cause of 
the additional Act of Congress was a letter sent from Salt Lake 
City and presented in the United States Senate while that 
body, on the second day of August, was considering in Com- 
mittee of the Whole the Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill. The 
letter was signed by Chief Justice Hunter and by Associate 
Justices Emerson and Twiss. They called attention to the fact 
that the Edmunds Law vacated all registration and election 
offices in Utah, and that no registration of voters had been 
made in the Territory that year. The local law required this 
to be done in May, and revised the first week in June. The 
failure of the registration, and the lack of election officers, 
would prevent the holding of the election fixed for the first 
Monday in August, at which time successors would have been 
chosen to all the county officers, also to the Territorial Auditor 
and Treasurer, as directed by Territorial statute. The Judges 
went on to show that these successors could not now be chosen 
for the reasons given, and the failure to elect was liable to 
cause general disturbance and trouble, especially in view of the 
fact that many of the incumbents were understood to be 
polygamists, and so disqualified from holding office. They 
therefore asked that Congress would take measures to provide 
for legal successors to all the incumbents whose successors 
would have been chosen at the August election, "and thereby 
secure the continuance of good order and the regular and un- 
disputed support of organized government, which otherwise 
would be seriously jeopardized." 

The Hoar Amendment. — To meet a situation supposed to 
be serious, Senator Hoar of Massachusetts, assisted by Senator 
Bayard of Delaware and Senator Lapham of New York, pre- 
pared an amendment, to be inserted in the bill then under con- 
sideration, empowering the Governor of Utah to fill by ap- 
pointment all vacancies that might be caused by the lapse of 
the August elections. The proposed amendment caused some 
discussion, Senator Brown of Georgia being its chief oppo- 
nent. He deemed it superfluous, and wanted tn know why the 
incumbents could not hold over, as usual in such cases, until 
their successors were elected and qualified. He was answered 



'I'm-: UTAH commission. 349 

that most of the offices in Utah were held by polygamists — a 
statement in excess of what the three Judges had asserted — 
and that polygamists were disqualified by the Edmunds Law. 
Seeing that his opposition would not avail, the Senator insisted 
upon a limitation of the term of the Governor's appointees to 
eight months, and this change being made, the Hoar Amend- 
ment, as it was termed, passed the Senate. In the House, Mr. 
Converse of Ohio endeavored to have it modified still further, 
but his effort was unsuccessful. 

Governor Murray's Appointments. — As soon as the new 
law went into efifect the Governor of Utah proceeded to make 
appointments to fill vacancies — not only in the offices held by 
polygamists, but in those held by monogamists as well. All 
offices, the election for which would have occurred in August, 
1882, were considered vacant, and appointments were made 
to fill them, regardless of any hold-over provision in the local 
statutes. Most of the apointees were "Gentiles." In a few 
instances, where no other material was available, the "Mor- 
mon" incumbents were retained. In all, about two hundred 
persons were commissioned to office by the Executive. 

The Governor chose as Sherifif of Iron County a man who 
was not a citizen of the United States; an inadvertence made 
much of by Murray's critics, recalling as it did his refusal of 
the election certificate to Delegate Cannon, on the ground that 
he was "an unnaturalized alien." The -newly appointed 
SheriiT, who was a resident of Parowan, hastened to Beaver, 
the seat of the District Court, and took out naturalization 
papers, on being informed of the "greatness" so suddenly 
"thrust upon" him. Another resident of Parowan declined the 
appointment of Probate Judge, because unwilling to occupy a 
position where, as he claimed, he would not have the hearty 
support of a majority of the people. 

Incumbents Refuse to Vacate. — All or most of the officers 
whom the Governor sought to displace ignored his action, or 
prepared to resist to the last legal extremity. Like the Senator 
from Georgia, they regarded the Hoar Amendment as a super- 
fluous piece of legislation. Now that it was upon the statute 
books, however, they insisted that it be construed and exe- 
cuted according to the intent of its framers. It was not de- 
signed to create vacancies, but to provide for filling such as 
might have been caused by the lapse of the recent elections. 
Public servants whose terms had expired or were about to 
expire, and who could not legally continue in office till their 
successors, were elected and qualified, should give way for the 
Governor's appointees; but all others should remain in their 
places until regularly succeeded. Those "understood to be 



350 WHITNKVS POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

polygamists" should be proved such before they were ousted. 
So argued the leaders of the People's Party. Not so the 
Liberal leaders. They looked upon the proposed action as an 
attempt to nullify an Act of Congress. 

In the Courts — The Douglas-Clayton Hearing. — The Gov- 
ernor was quite as determined as were his opponents, and the 
matter went into the courts. The first cases docketed in the 
Third Judicial District were those of the Territorial Auditor, 
Nephi "W. Clayton, and the Sheriff of Salt Lake County, Theo- 
dore McKean ; the former a monogamist, the latter a polyg- 
amist. Peremptory writs of mandate to compel them to vacate 
their offices in favor of the Governor's appointees, George C. 
Douglas and Arthur Pratt, were applied for, and a hearing 
took place before Chief Justice Hunter. 

It had been arranged that the cases of the Auditor and the 
Sheriff should be argued together, or rather, that the issue in 
the Douglas-Clayton case should also decide the Pratt-McKean 
controversy. There was a formidable array of counsel on 
either side, such names as Samuel A. Merritt, Idaho's former 
Delegate in Congress, and William H. Dickson, Utah's future 
District Attorney, looming up conspicuously. Mr. Dickson 
had lately come from Nevada. He and Thomas Marshall rep- 
resented the relators, Douglas and Pratt, while Mr. Merritt 
and Joseph L. Rawlins appeared for the respondents, Clayton 
and McKean. Mr. Rawlins was a native son of Utah. During 
the proceedings the commission of the Territorial Auditor was 
presented — a document signed by Governor Murray in Novem- 
ber, 1880, authorizing Mr. Clayton to hold that office for the 
term prescribed by law and until his successor was elected and 
qualified. The term of office — two years — would not expire 
until the 27th of November, and it was now the 11th of Octo- 
lier. A demurrer was interposed by the respondents, denying 
the Court's jurisdiction to hear or determine the matter in con- 
troversy on a writ of mandate; it being contended that quo 
warranto was the proper process for trying the title to an 
office. A motion for dismissal was therefore made. 

.Judge Hunter, at the conclusion of the arguments, took 
the matter under advisement, and on the 30th of October ren- 
dered a decision, sustaining the demurrer, and denying the 
writs applied for. One ground of the ruling was that nothing 
in the pleadings went to show that Messrs. Douglas and Pratt 
had filed their bonds or taken the oath of office as Auditor and 
Sheriff. The attorneys for these gentlemen took time to con- 
sider whether to amend their application, or appeal from the 
decision of the Court. 

The Kimball-Richards Case. — Meantime a similar suit had 



'11 



UIWII COMMISSION. 



351 



boon instituted at Ugcien, which city shared with Provo the 
distinction of being the seat of the First District Court; its 
presiding magistrate holding alternate sessions at both places. 
The plaintiff in the Ogden suit was James N. Kimball, whom 
(Jovernor Murray had appointed Probate Judge of Weber 
County. The incumbent was Franklin D. Richards, who had 
held the office by election for several consecutive terms. He 
\^•as one of those "understood to be a polygamist." Judge 
F.merson's decision in the Kimball-Richards case was dia- 
metrically opposite to that of 
judge Hunter in the other ac- 
tion, partly owing, perhaps, to 
the marital status of Mr. 
Richards. Emerson authorized 
a peremptory writ of mandate, 
requiring the incumbent to va- 
cate forthwith. Subsequently, 
however, he granted a stay d 
proceedings, and the matter 
went before the Supreme Court 
of Utah, where the decision I'f 
the District Court was affirme(l. 
An appeal was then taken to 
the Supreme Court of the 
United States. Before the case 
could be finally adjudicated, 
the eight months for which Mr. 
Kimball was appointed had ex- 
pired, and the suit was compro- 
mised and withdrawn. Conse- 
quently the question at issue 
was not passed upon by the 
Court of Last Resort. 

In Salt Lake County, and 
in other parts of the Territory matters had come to a stand- 
still, awaiting the issue in the Weber County case. Proceed- 
ings were not pressed by the Governor's appointees, and the 
incumbents remained in office tmtil their successors were 
elected and qualified. 

The Governor and the Legislature. — Several months be- 
fore the passage of the Hoar Amendment, a controversy had 
arisen between Governor Murrav and the Legislature, over the 
appointive power claimed by the former, but denied by the 
latter, respecting certain Territorial officers. The contention 
involved the scope and meaning of a clause in Section Seven 
of the Organic Act reading as follows: "The Governor shall 
nominate, and, bv and with the advice and consent of the Leg- 




I-RAXKI.IX 1>. RUllAUDS. 



352 W1I1TN]<:VS injl'UI.Ak HISTORY OF UTAH. 

islative Council, appoint all officers not herein otherwise pro- 
vided for." Basing- his claim upon this clause, Governor Mur- 
ray maintained that it was his right to appoint, among other 
officers, the Auditor and Treasurer of the Territory, and that 
they could not legally be chosen by the method then in vogue, 
namely, election by the people. 

Governor Harding had made a similar claim in 1862, at 
which time those officers were chosen by the joint vote of the 
Legislative Assembly. Governor Shaffer in 1870 tried to 
supersede Auditor William Clayton, who had been elected by 
the Legislature and commissioned by Acting Governor Mann. 
Shaffer appointed G. W. Bostwick in Clayton's stead, but the 
latter refused to surrender the office, and Attorney General 
Snow, the legal adviser of the Territory, sustained him in that 
attitude. Matters remained as they were until 1878, when the 
Legislature enacted a law, which Governor Emery approved, 
making the Auditor and Treasurer elective by the people. 

Nominations Rejected — A Retaliative Veto. — Governor 
Murray, on the 9th of March, 1882, nominated a score or more 
of persons to public office, including the Territorial Auditor, 
Treasurer, and Librarian, the Superintendent of District 
Schools, and the Chancellor and Regents of the University of 
Deseret. These nominations were sent for confirmation to the 
Legislative Council, which body, after hearing the Governor's 
communication, adopted resolutions to the effect that those 
offices, under local laws enacted at different times, had been 
made elective by the people or their representatives, and that 
these laws, having been submitted to, and not disapproved by, 
the Congress of the United States, were in full force and effect. 
Moreover, the Council held that the several Executives of the 
Territory, by approving such measures, had relinquished any 
right that the Governor might previously have possessed, to 
fill the places by appointment. It was therefore resolved that 
Governor Murray's nominations were unnecessary, and that no 
action thereon was required. 

That the Governor was right in his view of the case, 
the Supreme Court of the United States afterwards decided. 
Without waiting for that high vindication, however, Murray 
retaliated upon the local law makers by vetoing several im- 
portant measures passed by the Legislature and presented to 
him for his signature. Among these was a bill for an appro- 
priation to the University. 

The University Crippled. — The University of Deseret, 
after a lapse of thirty-two years since the granting of its char- 
ter by the Provisional Government, was still without a per- 
manent home. After occupying for several seasons the old 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 



353 



Council House, the "Parent School" had taken up its abode in 
a weather-beaten though substantial adobe structure once 
known as "The Union Academy," and at an earlier period 
"The Union Hotel," taking its name from Union Square, a 
vacant block near by, containing ten acres of cultivated ground, 
originally designed for a public park. This valuable site had 
been given to the University by Salt Lake City, and the Legis- 
lature had made an appropriation toward the erection of suit- 
able buildings thereon. The main edifice, begun in 1881, was 
nearing completion, and the Chancellor and Regents, in the 
prospect of an additional appropriation, were congratulating 




UNION SQUARE UXIVERSITY BUILDING. 
Now (1916) Salt Lake City West Side High School. 

themselves upon the fair outlook before the institution, when 
their hopes were dashed by the act of Utah's Executive. 

Private Means to the Rescue. — The amount proposed for 
the University in 1882 was fifty-five thousand dollars. The 
greater part of it — forty thousand dollars — was to complete 
th.e new building, while the remainder was to pay the running 
expenses of the institution and the tuition of eighty normal 
students, future teachers in the district schools. The Gov- 
ernor's veto that year, supplemented by a like action two years 
later, was regarded by the students and the alumni as a cruel 
blow at their struggling Alma Mater. But the full force of the 

22 



334 WHITNEY'S PcMH'I.AK HIS'IORY Ol'" UTAH. 

blow was not allowed to fall. A number of well-to-do citizens 
("Mormons"), some of them Regents of the University, came 
forward with their private means, advancing a considerable 
sum so that work could be prosecuted upon the unfinished 
walls. These gentlemen were reimbursed by a subsequent 
Legislative appropriation, but not until six years had passed 
and Governor Murray was no longer in office. 

Measures Approved. — Among the measures approved by 
the Executive in 1882 was one establishing a Territorial 
Asylum for the Insane. The law creating this institution 
made the Governor ex-officio chairman of its board oi direc- 
tors, and appropriated the sum of twenty thousand dollars 
toward the erection of its buildings at Provo. At the same 




TRKKITdKlAF. ASVI-UM FOR Till-: IXSAXi:. 

Now State Mental Hospital. 

session of the Legislature, Garfield County was created out of 
a portion of Iron County ; an act of respect toward the memory 
of the martyred President. 

Statehood Again Denied. — In February of that year, under 
authority of resolutions adopted by the Legislative Assembly, 
the people in their respective precincts selected delegates to 
choose the members of a Constitutional Convention, prepar- 
atory to another application for Statehood. The Convention 
was organized at Salt Lake City, with Joseph F. Smith as 
President. Several of the delegates were "Gentiles," and a 
number of women were also among the members. Regular 
meetings w-ere held from the 10th to the 27th of April. For 
the first time, "Deseret" was dropped and "Utah" substituted, 
as the name of the proposed State. With this exception, the 
proceedings did not vary much from those of former gather- 
ings of like character. Nor was the result any different ; ad- 
mission into the Union being again denied. 

Joint Celebrations. — During the summer local ascerbities 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 



355 



were sufficiently in abeyance to admit of two public celebra- 
tions in which "Gentiles" and "Mormons" jointly participated. 
One was at the opening of Liberty Park on June 17th, the an- 
niversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The other was the 
usual observance of Independence Day. On the former occa- 
sion Professor T. B. Lewis was the appointed orator, and 
speeches were also made by Governor Murray, General Wells, 
General A. McDowell Mc'Cook (successor to General Smith 
at Fort Douglas), Elder Wilford Woodruff, and Mayor Wil- 
liam Jennings ; the last-named acting as master of ceremonies. 
On July 4th, when the exercises were also held at Liberty 
Park, Governor Murray presided, and Professor Lewis read 
the Declaration of Independ- 
ence; District Attorney Van 
Zile delivering the oration. A 
choice number on the program 
was an original poem by Judge 
C. C. Goodwin, editor of the 
Salt Lake Tribune, a splendid 
writer both in verse and prose.* 
The gifted soprano, Mrs. T-a- 
vinia Careless, sang the "Star- 
Spangled Banner," and brief 
speeches followed from other 
citizens. Croxall's Band, the 
Fort Douglas Band, and the 
Union Glee Club furnished the 
music. The opening and clos- 
ing prayers were by Reverend 
R. G. McNiece, Presbyterian 
minister, and Elder George G. 
By water, a prominent "Mor- 
mon." 

Phil Robinson — "Sinners and Saints." — Among the vis- 
itors to Utah that year, was Mr. Phil Robinson, an English 
journalist and author, who had won repute during the first 
Boer troubles in South Africa, as war correspondent for the 




LDGE GOODWIN. 



*A native of the State of New York, Judge Goodwin, prior to 
coming to Utah in 1880, had been for twenty years a resident of 
Nevada, where he was Judge of the Second District Court at Washoe. 
Drifting into journalism, he edited successively "The Inland Empire" 
and "The Virginia City Enterprise." Upon his arrival in this Terri- 
tory, he went to mining in the old Lincoln District, Beaver County, 
but ere long accepted the proffered position of chief editor of the 
Tribune, having for associates Mr. P. H. Lannan, business manager, 
and Ex-U. S. Marshal Nelson, managing editor. Prior to Judge 
Goodwin's advent, Mr. Fred Lockley, a Kansas journalist, with Messrs. 
Prescott and Hamilton, also from that State, had conducted the paper. 



356 WHITNEY'S I'OI'UI.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

London "Daily Telegraph." Coming to America on business 
connected with the publication of one of his books, he met 
Mr. William H. Hurlburt, proprietor of "The New York 
World," and was commissioned by him to proceed West and 
inquire into the "Mormon" and Chinese questions, the former 
in Utah, the latter in California, and give his views thereon to 
the readers of that journal. Mr. Robinson remained several 
months, traversing the Territory from Bear Lake on the North 
to Long Valley in the South, visiting various towns and settle- 
ments, mingling with the people in public and private, and 
studying with the eye of an experienced traveler and sociolo- 
gist the "Mormon Problem." The result was the fairest set- 
ting forth of the subject that has yet emanated from a non- 
"Mormon" pen. Tlie World letters were widely read, and 
doubtless did much to allay prejudice against Utah. These 
letters were afterwards published in book form, under the 
title "Sinners and Saints."* 

Character of the Commissioners.- — Next came the mem- 
bers of the Utah Commission, mentioned by name at the be- 
ginning of this Chapter. They were men of prominence and 
repute. All had been practicing lawyers, and Commissioners 
Ramsey and Paddock had sat in the Senate of the United 
States. The former, who was Chairman of the Board, had 
also been Governor of Minnesota, and subsequently Secretary 
of War under President Hayes, with whom, it will be remem- 
bered, he visited Utah in September, 1880. He was a kindly 
disposed elderly gentleman, brimming with good nature, and 
without prejudice against the people among whom he came. 
Mr. Carlton, equally unbiased, afterwards wrote and pub- 
lished a book entitled "The Wonderlands of the Wild West," 
giving his experience of seven years as a member of the Utah 
Commission. 

Chairman Ramsey and the Omaha Herald. — The five gen- 
tlemen, while traveling toward their destination, had come 
together in Nebraska. A reporter of the Omaha Herald — 
then edited by Dr. Miller, a valiant friend to Utah — interviewed 
Chairman Ramsey on the subject of the Edmunds Law, with 
the following result : 

"How do you expect, Mr. Ramsey, this will be met by the 
Mormons?" 

"I think they will accept the ruling of the law. If they 
do not, they will simply make a judicial question of it and 
carry it up from court to court." 

*Mr. Robinson was again in Utah, lecturing, early in 1883. He 
was then accompanied by the eminent English barrister, Sergeant 
Ballantyne. 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 357 

"You do not expect any trouble, then, — any resistance at 
elections by force?" 

"Oh, no. They are too sensiljlc out there to attempt any- 
thing of that kind in the face of the Nation. They know now 
what the law requires, and they will not wilfully attempt to 
evade it." 

"How will the Commission prove that these men are mar- 
ried, and how much they are married?" 

"I cannot say," answered the Governor, laughing, "how 
we will get at that. They are honest ; perhaps they will con- 
fess. Now wouldn't you confess?" 

"The reporter protested that he had never been in a posi- 
tion to realize such a situation. "The Commission has no 
power, has it, to investigate the records of the Endowment 
House?" 

"None at all, sir." replied Mr. Ramsey; "we must simply 
rely on what we can ourselves discover." 

"Can the Delegate to Congress, elected this fall under such 
circumstances, be a Mormon?" 

"He may be a Mormon, but not a polygamist. Why, not 
over ten per cent of the Mormons are polygamists.* We 
don't care how many Mormons vote ; we cannot interfere with 
their religion; but they must not be polygamists if they want 
to vote." 

"But do you expect that one of those much married men 
will sacrifice his wives for his franchise?" 

"Young man," answered the jolly chairman, "would you?" 

In Honor of the Commissioners. — Deputations from Salt 
Lake City, including Governor Murray, Mayor Jennings, and 
other leading citizens, "Mormons" and "Gentiles," met the 
Commissioners at Ogden and escorted them to Salt Lake City. 
Here a public reception was given in their honor at the newly 
opened Walker Opera House, on Second South Street. "All 
seemed lovely" — thus Carlton in his book — "and reminded 
one of the lion and the lamb and the harmless cockatrice and 
all that; but, as we more than suspected at the time, it was 
only 'the torrent's smoothness ere it dash below.' " 

A Difficult Situation. — Chairman Ramsey, out of his pre- 
vious experience as a visitor to Utah, had informed his col- 
leagues that in the discharge of their official duties they would 
be "between the devil and the deep sea." "What he meant by 
this," says the author of the "Wonderlands," "began to dawn 
on us very soon after our arrival, and was fully confirmed by 
the sequel. In the first place, it should be known that there 

*Not more than three per cent of the male members of the "Mor- 
mon" Church at any time had i)hn-al wives. 



358 WHITNF.Y'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

was an intense feeling of hostility between the Mormons and 
a portion of the Gentiles. The latter charg-ed the Mormons 
with being- disloyal to the Government of the United States, 
and with all manner of crimes and immoralities; while the 
Mormons charged that those Gentiles who were making war 
upon them were a predatory band of adventurers and carpet- 
baggers, actuated by no higher motive than to oppress the 
Mormons, with a view to driving them to desperation, so as 
to steal the Mormon property. The daily newspapers in Salt 
Uake City, two on the Gentile side, and two on the Mormon 
side, were doing their part in fanning the flames of discord. 
Such was the community to which the Commission was sent ; 
the Mormons expecting the Commission to deal harshly with 
them under a law of Congress which they declared to be cruel 
and unconstitutional ; while on the other hand a portion of the 
Gentiles — the most active and demonstrative among them — 
seemed to act on the theory that a Mormon had no rights 
which others were bound to respect." "The Edmunds Law 
went too far to please the Mormons, but did not go far enough 
to please the ultra Gentiles." Mr. Carlton also states that 
some disappointment was felt because the President had se- 
lected all the Commissioners from places outside of Utah, 
rejecting nominations telegraphed from Salt Lake City by 
Governor Murray. 

Duties of the Board.^ — The Commissioners were indeed 
between two fires, and one or the other scorched them, either 
way they turned. Like all officials similarly placed, they were 
"sailing between Scylla and Charybdis," and if they avoided 
the rock it was only to be menaced by the whirlpool. Their 
duties, as defined in the Edmunds Law, were as follows: 

First : To appoint officers to perform each and every 
duty relating to the registration of voters, the conduct of elec- 
tions, the receiving or rejection of votes, the canvassing and 
returning of the same, and the issuing of certificates or other 
evidence of election. 

Second : To canvass the returns of all votes cast at elec- 
tions for members of the Legislature, and issue certificates of 
election to those persons who, being eligible for such election, 
should appear to have been lawfully elected. 

Third : To continue in office until the Legislative Assem- 
bly, so elected and qualified, should make provisions for filling 
the offices vacated by the Act of Congress. 

Initial Obstacles.- — In their first report to the Secretary of 
the Interior, dated about two weeks after their arrival at Salt 
Lake City, the Commissioners referred to "many embarrass- 
ments and complications," encountered while seeking to carry 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 359 

out the provisions of the Edmunds Law; the main difficulty 
being to make that statute conform to the Territorial laws re- 
lating to elections. According to Mr. Carlton, the leaders of 
the Liberal Party were averse to holding an election for Dele- 
gate to Congress, which must inevitably result in their defeat, 
and did all in their power to convince the Commissioners that 
it could not legally be done. But the latter thought other- 
wise, and forthwith appointed the necessary officers to revise 
the registration lists and conduct the election. 

Registration and Test Oath. — Most of the County Regis- 
trars, twenty-four in number, were selected from the ranks of 
the Liberal Party. Deputy Registrars were also appointed, 
one for each precinct. All were to hold their places during 
the pleasure of the Board that appointed them. The Commis- 
sioners published rules for the guidance of registrars and the 
government of judges of election. They also formulated the 
following test oath, to be taken by voters prior to registration : 

County of ) 

Territory of Utah. j ^'• 

I, , being first duly sworn (or 

affirmed), depose and say that I am over twenty-one years of 
age, and have resided in the Territory of Utah for six months, 
and in the precinct of one month imme- 
diately preceding the date hereof, and (if a male) am a native 
born or naturalized (as the case may be) citizen of the United 
States and a taxpayer in this Territory, or (if a female), T am 
native born, or naturalized, or the wife, widow or daughter (as 
the case may be) of a native born or naturalized citizen of the 
United States; and I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I am not a bigamist or a polygamist ; that I am not a 
violator of the laws of the United States prohibiting bigamy 
or polygamy; that I do not live or cohabit with more than one. 
woman in the marriage relation, nor does any relation exist 
between me and any woman which has been entered into or 
continued in violation of the said laws of the United States 
prohibiting bigamy or polygamy ; and (if a woman) that I am 
not the wife of a polygamist. nor have T entered into any rela- 
tion with any man in violation of the laws of the United States 
concerning polygamy or bigamy. 

Subscribed and sworn before me this dav of , 

1882. 



Registration Officer Precinct. 



An Objectionable Feature. — The adoption of some plan 
whereby to purge the registration lists from names whose 



360 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

owners were disqualified to vote, had been expected; and in 
view of the ambiguity of the Edmunds Law it was thought 
very probable that some latitude would be taken by those 
whose duty it was to interpret it. The institution of a test 
oath, therefore, was not surprising. But a part of the oath, 
as formulated, was not only surprising — it was shocking. Ref- 
erence is had to that part requiring the applicant for registra- 
tion to swear or affirm that he did not "live or cohabit with 
more than one woman ;"// the marriage relation." The words 
here italicized were not in the Edmunds Law, nor in any other 
law relating to Utah ; but were an interpolation by the Com- 
missioners, who had copied part of an oath required from 
notaries public by Governor Murray. 

Critical Comments. — The Deseret News, commenting 
upon the objectionable clause in the test oath, showed that its 
effect would be to exclude from the registration lists, and 
consequently from the polls, the man who had married two or 
more wives and lived with them in that relation, and would 
also exclude in like manner the wives of such a man; while it 
would let in the libertine and the harlot, however vile and pol- 
luted. The same paper pointed out that the oath to be taken 
by registration officers did not include the cohabitation clause 
at all. They had simply to swear that they were not biga- 
mists or polygamists, and yet could strike from the voting 
lists the names of those who failed to subscribe to the test 
oath in all its parts. These objections were met by the asser- 
tion that the Edmunds Law was aimed only at the "Mormons" 
and their institutions — not at the immoralities of the "Gen- 
tiles." 

Views of the First Presidency. — The First Presidency of 
the Church, in an address to the Latter-day Saints, dated 
August 29, 1882, referred to the attitude of the Commissioners, 
and expressed regret that men of high positions and honored 
names would take that view of the law and frame such an oath 
to be administered to the people. At the same time it was 
"with unmixed satisfaction" that they perceived how sharply 
and distinctly the oath drew the line between marriage and 
licentiousness. They advised their Church members, such as 
could truthfully take the oath, to do so. in order that religious 
liberty and free republican government might be maintained, 
entreating them not to allow their rights to be wrested from 
them through supineness, indifference, or any feeling of resent- 
ment or indignation on their part. They further advised that 
the suggestions made from time to time by the Territorial Cen- 
tral Committee of the People's Party be faithfully carried out. 

"Once a Polygamist, Always a Polygamist." — The Com- 
mission next prohiliited the registration of anv person Avho at 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 



361 



any time since the passage of the Anti-Bigamy Law, had lived 
in bigamous or polygamous relations. This ruling was in re- 
sponse to a question submitted by the registrar of Juab Coun- 
ty, who desired to know if men who had once married plural 
wives but were not then living with them could be registered 
as voters. The decision denying them that privilege was an- 
other surprise to the public. It disfranchised men and women 
in the "Mormon" Church who. on account of the death of hus- 
band or wife or for some other cause, had ceased their plural 
relations, and also deprived of the suffrage men and women 
who did not then belong to the Church, but while connected 
with it in former years had lived in polygamy, though they had not 
practiced it since their defection from "Mormonism." "'Once 
a polygamist always a polyga- 
mist." was the ground taken b}' 
the Commissioners. 

An Untenable Position. — 
That it was untenable ground, 
the sequel showed. In the first 
place it was clearly outside the 
intent of the Edmunds Law, 
which was designed to discour- 
age and suppress the practice 
of polygamy, not to punish 
those who had abandoned the 
practice and were living within 
the law. Next, it was impossi- 
ble, without making the law 
retroactive, to reach the cases 
of many persons affected by 
the Commission's ruling. The 
case of William Jennings, 
Mayor of Salt Lake City, was 
one in point. He had been a 
polygamist, but had broken 
neither the Anti-Bigamy Law 
of 1862, aimed at the ceremony 

of plural marriage without reference to cohabitation, nor the 
Anti-Polygamy Law of 1.882, by which the ceremony and the 
cohabitation were both made punishable. He had had two 
wives, but had married them before the year 1862; therefore 
his marriages did not violate the earlier law, which was not 
retroactive. His first wife dying in 1871, eleven years before 
the Edmunds Law was enacted, he had since lived with but 
one wife, and consequently could have taken the test oath with 
perfect propriety. The Registrar, however, under the ruling 
of the Commission, reiccted him. 




MAYOR JENNINGS. 



362 W H 1 T N E Y S 1 '0 1 ' U LA R H I S TOR Y O F UTA H . 



The doctrine, "once a polygamist always a polygamist," 
did not give much satisfaction to any class. It was a two- 
edged sword, cutting both ways, and was generally regarded 
as unjust. A son of President Brigham Young, not then con- 
nected with the Church over which his father had presided, 
having been offered the appointment of Deputy Registrar for 
tlie Fourth Precinct of Salt Lake City, declined it because un- 
willing to take part in the disfranchisement of persons who 
were not living in violation of law. Had he accepted the ap- 
pointment, he would have been required to disfranchise his 
own mother, one of the widows of President Young. 

Murphy Versus Ramsey. — A test case that was destined 
to call forth a decision from the Supreme Court of the United 
States reversing this ruling of the Commission, was instituted 
in the autumn of 1882. The abbreviated title of the action was 
Murphy versus Ramsey. The plaintiffs, Jesse J. Murphy, 
Mary Ann Pratt, Mildred E. Randall, Alfred^Randall, Ellen C. 
Clawson, Hiram B. Clawson, and James M. Barlow, had all 
been refused registration by deputy registrars in Salt Lake 
County, and these officers, with the County Registrar and the 
members of the Utah Commission, were made defendants in 
a suit for damages. 

Woman's Suffrage Assailed. — The elimination of polyga- 

mists from the voting ranks did 
not materially diminish the 
strength of the People's Party, 
which still had an overwhelm- 
ing majority over their political 
rip])onents. The latter, hoping 
to lessen that majority yet 
further, next assailed the Wom- 
an's Suffrage Act. The Utah 
Commission having refused to 
declare the act invalid, the Fed- 
eral Courts were appealed to ; 
■test cases being instituted in 
the three Judicial Districts. 
Judges Hunter, Emerson and 
Twiss all ruled in favor of the 
statute. 

This was not the first at- 
tempt made by the managers of 
the Liberal Party to prevent 
the women of Utah from exer- 
cising the franchise conferred 
up(Mi them b}' the Legislature, 
under the approval of the Act- 




i:M Ml.l.lNE p.. WELLS. 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 363 

ing Governor, in 1870. During the political campaign of 1880 
proceedings in mandamus had been instituted in the Supreme 
Court of the Territory, for the purpose of compelling the Reg- 
istrar of Salt Lake County, R. T. Burton, to strike from the 
County voting list the names of Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells 
("Mormon"), Mrs. A. G. Paddock ("Gentile"), and all other 
women whose names appeared upon that list. But the Court 
refused to compel the Registrar to undo what the law had 
required him to do, and consequently the women retained 
the ballot.* 

Caine Defeats Van Zile.— The Delegate election in 1882 
was preceded by a campaign in which political parades, with all 
the paraphernalia of torches, transparencies and pyrotechnics, 
were seen for the first time in Utah. Each party put forth its 
utmost exertions, and the issue was decided on the 7th of 
November, when John T. Caine, the People's candidate, 
was chosen Delegate to Congress, over Phillip T. Van Zile, 
the candidate of the Liberals. The former received 23,039 
votes; the latter, 4,884. All during the campaign Mr. Van Zile 
had sought to impress upon the public mind the idea that his 
victory meant Statehood for Utah, while his defeat signified a 
Legislative Commission. The answer of the people was his 
rejection at the polls. Mr. Caine was not only elected to 
the Forty-eighth Congress, but also to the unexpired portion 
of Delegate Cannon's term, in the Forty-seventh Congress. 

A Futile Charge. — Mr. Van Zile charged the Delegate- 
elect with polygamy, and protested against the counting of the 
votes cast for him. Mr. Caine, who was well known to have 
but one wife, smiled at the charge and denied all the allega- 
tions of his opponent. The Commissioners allowed the can- 
vass to proceed, but subsequently sent for Mr. Van Zile and 



*The basis of the mandamus proceedings was the alleged invalid- 
ity of the Woman's Suffrage Act. Two grounds were stated: (1) 
The Act conferring the franchise differed from the Territorial law 
of 1859, which provided that voters should be males and tax-payers. 
(2) The act of 1870 did not require a woman voter to be a "citizen" 
in the common acceptance of the term, it being sufficient if she were 
the wife, widow or daughter of a native born or naturalized citizen. 
These "discriminations," it was contended, voided the enactment. 

The women of Utah were loyally sustained at that juncture by 
leading suffrage women throughout the Nation. Tn the midst of the 
court proceedings Belva A. Lockwood telegraphed from Washington 
to Emmeline B. Wells at Salt Lake City: "Stand by your guns. 
Allow no encroachment upon your liberties. No mandamus here.'' 
The Woman's Journal, of Boston, edited by Lucy Stone, denounced 
in scathing terms the "bold attempt to disfranchise citizens who have 
exercised the right to vote for ten years." The Journal declared that 
such an attempt would never have been made "if these citizens had 
not been Mormons." 



364 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



asked him if he was prepared to prove the polygamy charge. 
He answered that he was prepared to prove it only on the 
ground that he presumed Mr. Caine to be a believer in plural 
marriage. The Commissioners then overruled the protest, and 
issued to Mr. Caine a certificate of election to the Forty-eighth 
Congress. The returns for the Forty-seventh Congress they 
refused to count, holding that there was no law authorizing 
the special election. Some of the election judges, however, 
certified to a list of votes cast for Mr. Caine in that conection, 

and with these certificates and 
his other credentials the Dele- 
gate-elect set out for Wash- 
ington. 

The Delegate Admitted.— 
Mr. Caine's immediate object 
was to secure admission to the 
unexpired session of Congress, 
which would not end until 
March 4, 1883. He submitted 
his case in December, and on 
the 17th of January was ad- 
mitted to his seat in the House 
of Representatives. The ground 
taken in his favor was this: 
While there was no law author- 
izing the special election, there 
was a national statute which 
entitled each Territory to a 
Delegate in Congress; and 
since Congress had failed to 
legislate to meet the emergen- 
cy, and the Governor of Utah 
had refused to call an election, 
and the citizens of the Territory, by holding an election with- 
out the Governor's authorizatian, had availed themselves of 
the only way left in which to express their will ; therefore they 
were entitled to the admission of their Delegate. Judge Van 
Zile, who had gone to Washington to oppose the seating of 
Delegate Caine, acquiesced gracefully in his second defeat, and 
congratulated his victorious opponent on the outcome. 

To Their Eastern Homes. — The members of the Utah 
Commission, having completed their labors for the season, 
made another report to the Secretary of the Interior, and then 
departed for their homes in the East. While conscious of the 
fact that they had pleased neither "Mormons" nor "Gentiles," 
they felt that they had used their best judgment in the diffi- 
cult ]iosition they were called upcm {o occupy. Some of 




lOHN T. CAINE. 



THE UTAH COMMISSION. 365 

the "ultra" element had urged them to recommend "Congres- 
sional legislation of a radical character," and Mr. Paddock had 
been won over to the view that Utah should be governed by a 
Legislative Commission ; but this plan, it appears, was not then 
favored by any of his associates. 

Carlton on His Critics. — Commissioner Carlton, when he 
published his book, did not forget to pay his respects to the 
"Ultras," some of whom had assailed him and his conservative 
colleagues. Says he: "It soon began to appear, as was after- 
wards clearly demonstrated, that no Federal official could re- 
ceive the commendation or avoid the venomous abuse of that 
coterie, except by the most abject and servile submission to 
their dictation." This would indicate that the "Mormons" 
were not the only ones who criticized Federal officials. It is 
safe to say, however, that they were the only ones whose 
strictures upon public functionaries were construed as treason 
and rebellion against the Government. 

Judge Black and the Cause of the People. — Utah, battling 
for her rights under the Constitution, had a redoubtable cham- 
pion in that superb lawyer and truly great man, Honorable 
Jeremiah S. Black. In a powerful argument, delivered at 
the City of Washington on the 29th of September, 1882, he 
pleaded the cause of the majority in this Territory against the 
Edmunds Law, the Hoar Amendment, Governor Murray, and 
the Utah Commission. His address was directed to the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, in the absence of the President and the 
Attornev General. During the following February the emi- 
nent jurist lifted his voice against the Edmunds Law and for 
the right of local self government in the Territories before the 
Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, which 
was then considering another anti-Utah measure. This was 
only a few months before the death of Judge Black, which 
occurred August 19, 1883. 



XXVII. 
AN APPROACHING STORM. 

1882-1885. 

The Anti-Polygamy Prosecutions. — The United States 
Government was adamant in its determination to stamp out 
plural marriage, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 
Saints remained firm in its adherence to that feature of its 
faith. What followed was inevitable. Until the issuance of 
"The Manifesto," withdrawing Church sanction from the furth- 
er solemnization of such marriages, a rigorous system of prose- 
cution was carried on in Utah, Idaho and Arizona, wherever 
the "Mormon" people had founded settlements. The Federal 
courts were kept busy trying cases under the Edmunds Law, 
and in Utah the Penitentiary was crowded with persons con- 
victed under the operations of that stern statute. 

A Reign of Terror. — It was a time of terror and gloom. 
Men and women were hunted like runaway slaves before the 
Civil War. Hundreds of people, including many prominent 
citizens, were arrested or driven into exile. Most of the men 
proceeded against were punished, not for marrying plural 
wives, but for living with those whom they had wedded prior 
to the enactment of the law under which they were prose- 
cuted. The three Territories were raked as with a sharp- 
toothed harrow and victims of the raid agonized to an extent 
almost unbearable. When the end came, none seemed more 
grateful for it than the judges and prosecutors themselves, 
who were heartily sick of the pain and misery that had been 
caused. 

Two Sides to the Question. — As might naturally be ex- 
pected, these officials were convinced that their attitude and 
acts in pursuance of the duties and obligations resting upon 
them, were perfectly just and reasonable. But those who 
suffered from the enforcement of the law — a law administered, 
as they believed, not only with partiality, but at times with 
undue severity, could hardly be censured if they failed to share 
in that conviction. Whatever the "Gentiles" might think, or 
whatever the Federal Courts might decree, it was a principle 
of the "Mormon" religion that was assailed, and the men and 
women who went to prison rather than prove recreant to cove- 
nants that they considered sacred, were well worthy of the 
respect instinctively felt for them by the best element among 
thfcir opponents. 

Not in Rebellion. — The position of the "Mormon" people, 
so much misunderstood at that time, should not at this late 
day be misconstrued and misrepresented. The same generous 



AN APPROACHING STORM. 367 

spirit that accords to the people of the South sincerity in their 
attitude upon the States Rights question, ought to be mani- 
fested toward the citizens of this commonwealth, who, without 
arming themselves against the Union, stood out for their re- 
ligious convictions, and battled legally for their rights under 
the Constitution, with the Stars and Stripes waving over 
them through the whole period of the controversy. It is un- 
fair to say, as some have said, that such a people were in re- 
bellion against the Government. They had been placed in an 
attitude of seeming antagonism by the action of the Govern- 
ment itself; an attitude not of their choosing, and altogether 
contrary to their inclination. Simple justice demands that 
their true position l)e fairly stated and fully comprehended. 
"Come within the Law"— a phrase much upon the lips of those 
who saw no good reason why their advice should not be 
promptly acted upon, meant more to the "Mormon" husband 
and father than his "Gentile" neighbor was in a position to 
realize. It involved the severance of ties of genuine affection, 
and proposed the dissolution of bonds believed to be eternal. 
The fact that the "Gentiles" deemed it all a delusion, while 
some of them ridiculed it as such, did not change matters 
one iota, nor make the problem any easier of solution. Con- 
viction, not stubbornness, stood in the way ; conscience, not 
contumacy, was the lion in the path. 

President Taylor Predicts "A Storm."— It had long been 
foreseen that the warring social forces in Utah would sooner 
or later bring a tempest of tribulation upoji the Territory. 
Mutterings of the coming storm were heard before and 
after the enactment of the Edmunds Law. Early in April, 
1882, during the General Conference of the Latter-day Saints', 
the venerable head of the Church made allusion to the ap- 
proaching trouble. Half humorously, yet with serious intent, 
he said: "Let us treat it as we did the snow storm through 
which we came this morning— put up our coat collars, and wait 
till it passes by. After the storm comes the sunshine. While 
the excitement lasts, it is useless to reason with the world; 
when it subsides we can talk to them." 

The "Mormon" Attitude.— President Taylor outlined the 
position of the Latter-day Saints toward the Edmunds Law 
in these words : "We do not wish to place ourselves in a state 
of antagonism, nor act defiantly, toward this Government. We 
will fulfill the letter, so far as practicable, of that unjust, in- 
human, oppressive, and unconstitutional law. * * * But 
we cannot sacrifice every principle of human right. * * * 
While we are God-fearing and law-abiding, and respect all 
honorable men and officers, we are no craven serfs, and have 



36S \Vlll'r\M-:V'S I'oI'II^AK lllSrOKY 01< UTAH. 

not learned to lick the feet of oppressors, nor to bow in base 
submission to unreasoning clamor. We will contend, inch 
bv inch, legal! v and constitutionally, for our rights as Amer- 
ican citizens." 

The Hosannah Shout.— On the closing day of the Con- 
ference, President Taylor concluded his discourse with "The 
Hosannah Shout," in which he led the vast congregation, the 
reverberating thunders of whose united voices, ten thousand 
strong, caused the great Tabernacle to tremble. The shout, 
thrice given, was as follows: "Hosannah! Hosannah! Hosan- 
nah ! to God and the Lamb, for ever and ever, worlds without 
end. Amen, Amen, and Amen!" 

Mr. Phil Robinson, the representative of the New York 
World, who was present, wrote thus to his paper regarding 
this incident: "Acquainted as I am with displays of Oriental 
fanaticism and W^estern revivalism, I set this Mormon en- 
thusiasm on one side, as being altogether of a different char- 
acter; for it not only astonishes by its fervor, but commands 
respect by its sincere sobriety. The congregation reminded 
me of the Puritan gatherings of the past as I had imagined 
them, and of my personal experiences of the Transvaal Boers 
as I knew them. There was no rant, no affectation, no striv- 
ing after theatrical effect. The very simplicity of this great 
gathering of country-folk was striking in the extreme, and 
significant from first to last of a power that should hardly 
be trifled with by sentimental legislation. Nor could any- 
thing exceed the impressiveness of the response which the 
people gave instantaneously to the appeal of their President 
for the support of their voices. The great Tabernacle was 
filled with waves of sound as the 'Aniens' of the congregation 
burst out. The shout of men going into battle was not more 
stirring than the closing words of this memorable conference, 
spoken as if by one vast voice." 

Women Imprisoned.^ — In November of that year an epi- 
sode occurred which, though isolated from the long series of 
raids and prosecutions that followed, was significant of things 
to come. A young woman giving her name as Annie Gallifant, 
an alleged plural wife, was before the Grand Jury at Salt Lake 
City, where she was plied with questions, one of them a direct 
demand for the name of her husband. She refused to answer, 
not only before the Grand Jury, but before Chief Justice 
Hunter, who informed her that the questions were proper, and 
that it was her duty to reply to them. Persisting in her re- 
fusal, she was sent to the Penitentiary. Her imprisonment 
was only for twenty-four hours. The Grand Jury having 
been discharged, she was set at liberty. Four days later she 



AN APPROACHING STORM. 369 

became a mother. Her husband — John Connelly, a baker — 
was tried for polygamy and acquitted. Annie Gallifant ad- 
mitted on the witness stand that she was his plural wife, but 
the prosecution could not disprove what the pair stoutly af- 
firmed — that they were married more than three years before 
the finding of the indictment, and were therefore shielded by 
the statute of limitations. 

About six months after the imprisonment of Annie Gal- 
lifant, a similar incident took place at Beaver. The woman in 
the case was Belle Harris^ niece to Martin Harris, one of the 
Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon. Summoned before 
the Grand Jury, she was asked if she was a married woman, 
and if so, when and to whom was she married? She refused 
to answer oh the ground of personal privilege, and though 
Judge Twiss decided the question to be proper, still the wit- 
ness was silent. She was fined twenty-live dollars, and com- 
mitted to the custody of the Marshal. Habeas corpus pro- 
ceedings carried the case before the Supreme Court of the 
Territory, which held with the District Court that the witness 
was in contempt. Belle Harris, with her infant child, was 
kept in the Penitentiary from May until August, 1883. when 
by order of Judge Twiss she was liberated, the Grand Jury 
having withdrawn the objectionable question. The name of 
her husband — for she was indeed a plural wife — remained un- 
disclosed. 

A third instance of the kind was that of Nellie White, a 
school teacher, suspected of being the plural wife of Bishop 
Jared Roundy, of Wanship, Summit County. The suspicion 
was partly based upon the fact that she boarded in the Bish- 
op's family; having his daughters among her pupils. Roundy's 
case was considered by the Grand Jury at Salt Lake City, and 
Miss White was summoned as a witness. Answers were de- 
manded to a number of questions, all concerning her alleged 
marriage. Refusing to answer them, she was taken before 
Chief Justice Hunter, and there repeated her refusal. She was 
committed to the Penitentiary until she should be willing to 
reply, or until a further order of the court in her case. These 
proceedings occurred in May, 1884. The young school teacher 
remained a prisoner a little over six weeks. 

Kate Field and "The Mormon Monster." — Among the 
many visitors who interviewed Miss White during her sojourn 
in the Utah Penitentiary, was the well known writer and plat- 
form speaker. Miss Kate Field, who spent several months at 
Salt Lake City, gathering materials for a lecture afterwards 
delivered by her at Washington. D. C, and in other Eastern 
towns. The lecture was entitled "The Mormon Monster." 

23 



37U W I1IT.\I-:\"S l'( )|'ll..\l< IIISJOKV Ol- UTAH. 

and was made up of the usual "Anti-Mormon" pabulum fed 
to tourists and travelers by those bent upon bringing about 
radical changes in the social and political affairs of this Terri- 
tory. Miss I'^ield came to Utah apparently unprejudiced, and 
at first was quite friendly with prominent "Mormons." But 
she afterwards formed the acquaintance of Governor Murray, 
and accepted from him and his intimates their side of the story 
as the truth pertaining to matters in "Mormondom." 

Another Great Railroad. — Here the continuity of the main 
narrative embodied in this chapter must be broken long 
enough to permit mention of an important happening in the 
local commercial world. In the midst of the political and 
judicial events under consideration, the public mind was di- 
verted to more material affairs by the completion 'to Sa|t Lake 
City of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad ; an outgrowth 
of the system bearing that name in the State of Colorado. 
The work of construction from the Utah line had begun in 
1881, and the last rail was laid about the end of March, 1883. 
This point, however, was not to be the terminus of the road. 
The plan was to extend it to Ogden, and there join with the 
Central (now Southern) Pacific, thus establishing another 
through route between the East and California. The line from 
Salt Lake City to Ogden was opened for business early in May. 

The Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies, since 
the meeting at Promontory in 1869, had held an almost un- 
broken monopoly of the railroad business of Utah. Especially 
was this true of the Union Pacific Company, which speedily 
acquired possession or control of most of the local lines. But 
now a powerful competitor entered the field, and a new era 
in the commercial life of the Territory began. The new road, 
uniting the capitals of Utah and Colorado, conferred imme- 
diate benefit upon both commonwealths. Passenger fares and 
freight rates were reduced, and the development of the re- 
sources of the Rocky Mountain region was greatly stimulated. 
The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in Utah was originally 
a narrow gauge line. The track was not broad-gauged until 
1890.* 



*Utah had had a street railway since July, 1872, when the first 
line, at Salt Lake City, was opened for traffic on South Temple Street, 
eastward from the Utah Central Depot to West Temple Street, whence 
it ran south and east into the Ninth Ward. This was soon fol- 
lowed by a branch to the Warm Springs, and by other extensions. 
The founders of the enterprise were Brigham Young, Jr., William B. 
Preston, Seymour B. Young, Moses Thatcher, John W. Young, John 
N. Pike, Le Grand Young, Parley L. Williams, William W. Riter 
and HaiTiilton G. Park. Horse power was originally used by the 
Salt Lake City railroad; electricity not being employed until August, 
1889. 



AN APl'ROACIIINC. STORM. 371 

Prospering in Adversity.— 'Tlnis Utah continued to pros- 
per, notwithstanding- the internal strife that frightened away 
capital and population, but could not entirely destroy pros- 
perity, nor hinder the promotion of great enterprises. That 
the Territory could advance under such conditions is proof 
positive of the sterling character of its people, and the attrac- 
tive richness of its nnlxnnided material wealth. 

The Standing Murder. — Reverting now to the main sub- 
ject — the general trend of events immediately preceding and 
following the enactment of the Edmunds Law. One of the 
earliest results of the agitation that produced that statute was 
the murder of a "Mormon" missionary — Elder Joseph Stand- 
ing, of Salt Lake City, who was killed by a mob near Varnell's 
Station, Whitfield Ctninty. Georgia, on the 21st of July, 1879. 
Elder Standing, who presided over the Georgia Conference of 
the Southern States Mission, and Elder Rudger Clawson, also 
from Salt Lake City, were walking along a road that ran 
through the woods, when suddenly they were surrounded by 
twelve armed men, some mounted and some afoot. Uttering 
exultant yells, the mob seized the two young men and hurried 
them into the forest. One of the party — a Baptist deacon 
named Clark — who was walking in the rear, without provoca- 
tion struck Elder Clawson a staggering blow on the back of 
the head with his fist. When the Elders asked by what au- 
thority they were interfered with, they were told that they 
would "know soon enough," and were later informed that they 
were "going to get a sound flogging." This meant that they 
would be stripped to the waist, bound face downward over a 
fallen tree or some other convenient object, and beaten w^th 
hickory withes till they were insensible. The pain thus in- 
flicted, it is said, could be made so intense that death itself 
was almost preferable. In answer to a remark by Elder 
Clawson, that he had supposed the United States to be a land 
of liberty and law,, the mob replied: "There is no law in 
Georgia for 'Mormons.' " 

Having reached a clearing, most of the party sat down to 
rest, while several horsemen rode on to select a suitable place 
for the proposed whipping. Elder Standing, complaining of 
thirst, was permitted to drink from a spring near l)y, and had 
just returned to his seat upon the ground when the horsemen 
reappeared. "Follow us," they said. Standing, rendered 
desperate by the situation, now sprang to his feet, wheeled 
around, and clapping his hands together, shouted "Surrender!" 
Quick as a flash, a man at his left arose, thrust a pistol into 
his face, and fired; the ball piercing the brain. He reeled 
twice and fell. All eyes were then turned upon Clawson. 
"Shoot that man!" exclaimed the leader. Tnstantlv a dozen 



172 WHITNF.Y'S POriT[,AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

guns were leveled at the missionary, who showed amazing 
intrepidity. Looking calmly into the frowning muzzles, he 
said, "Shoot." His coolness saved him. The guns were low- 
ered, and the mob gathered in a group to consult, leaving 
Clawson to wait upon his dying companion. While he went 
for assistance to the house of a friend — Mr. Henry Holston — 
the murderers riddled the dead body with bullets and stabbed 
it with knives; their purpose, it was thought, being to impli- 
cate the entire party and insure unanimity of silence. 

Assassins Acquitted. — -Elder Clawson brought the body 
home. At Ogden and at Salt Lake City the train bearing it 
was met by mourning multitudes. The funeral service was 
held in the great Tabernacle, and a monument erected by the 
Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations was placed 
above the sleeping dust. Three of the assassins, Jasper N. 
Nations, Andrew Bradley, and Hugh Blair, were indicted for 
murder, manslaughter, and riot, upon testimony furnished by 
Rudger Clawson, Henry Holston, and two others who had 
seen the mob before or after the assault. At the trial in 
Dalton, Georgia, the evidence was direct and conclusive, and 
the prosecuting officers, Solicitor-General Hackett and Colonel 
W. R. Moore, did their full duty ; but Judge and Jur}', biased 
foi or intimidated by the defendants and their sympathizers, 
set the murderers free. 

The Cane Creek Massacre. — A tragedy more terrible still, 
and one springing from like causes, occurred on the 10th of 
August, 1884, at Cane Creek, Lewis County, Tennessee. In 
this afifair two Utah missionaries, William S. Berry and John 
H. Gibbs, the former middle-aged, the latter more youthful, 
lost their lives. It was a Sabbath morning, and Elders Gibbs 
and Berry, with other missionaries and a few converts, were 
about to hold a service at the farm house of James Condor, a 
member of the Church, when a mob invaded the premises and 
fired upon the peaceful worshipers, killing the Elders named 
and two young men not of their faith who tried to protect 
them. 

Prior to the massacre the mob had captured Elder William 
H. Jones, also from Utah, who was on his way to the meeting 
at Condor's, when twelve or fifteen men, all wearing masks, 
rushed from the timber at the roadside and made him their 
prisoner. After a thorough searching, they compelled him to 
go with them through a corn field into the forest. Leaving 
him with one of their number, the others disappeared in the 
direction of the Condor farm. The man in charge of Elder 
Jones was not in sympathy with the murderous designs of his 
companions. He informed his prisoner that he intended to let 
him go. "I'll kill you, though," he added, "if you act unfair." 



AN APPROACHING STORM. 2>72> 

Jones was then ordered to walk ahead, and obeyed. They 
had gone but a short distance when a shot was heard, followed 
by others, and soon a whole volley shook the air. "My God!" 
exclaimed the man, "they are shooting among the women and 
children; don't you hear them scream?" Jones, at the behest 
of his guard, now ran, the latter following, gun in hand, until 
they reached the road, where they parted ; the missionary first 
being directed to a place of safety. At Shady Grove, in Hick- 
man County, there was a branch of the "Mormon" Church, and 
Elder Jones arrived there next morning. 

Most of the shots heard by him and his guard were fired 
by the mob who had previously had him in their power. 
Elders Gibbs and Berry, with Elder Henry Thompson, had 
reached the Condor home, and were seated, singing hymns 
and waiting for their congregation to assemble, when there 
came a sudden shout. Looking in the direction of the front 
gate, they saw Mr. Condor struggling in the grasp of several' 
men, while others were rushing toward the house. The mob- 
bers still wore their masks, and were armed with rifles and 
pistols. 

"Get your guns!" shouted Condor to his boys in the 
orchard. Martin Condor, a youth of nineteen or twenty, 
reached the back door just as the leader of the mob, David 
Hinson, who had entered at the front, was taking down, from 
tiie hooks where it hung, a shot-gun, the boy's own weapon. 
There was a fierce struggle for its possession, during which 
Hinson snapped a pistol in Martin's face. He recoiled, and 
the mobber, securing the gun, fired at Elder Gibbs, the shot 
taking efifect under his arm. He sank down by a bed and 
died. A gun was leveled at Thompson, but Berry, large and 
powerful, seized the barrel and turned the muzzle away from 
his friend. While thus holding but making no further effort 
to secure the gun. Berry was fired upon by two of the mob, 
both shots piercing his abdomen. He fell to the floor and 
expired. Meantime Thompson had escaped to the woods. 

Elder Gibbs had no sooner fallen, than Martin Condor 
renewed his struggle wnth Hinson for the shot-gun, and at this 
juncture some of the assaulting party shot the heroic boy. 
whose antagonist then retreated. 

At the beginning of the fray J. Riley Hudson, son of Mrs. 
Condor by a former marriage, entered the house from the rear, 
and while his brother was grappling with Hinson. climbed 
into the loft to get his gun. Riley descended in time to see 
Martin writhing in death agony, and the murderer of his 
friend Gibbs passing out by the front doorway. Flinging 
aside two ruffians who sought to stay him, young Hudson 
leaped to the door and shot llinson dead in the presence of 



374 W'l HTX[<:V'S POIH'LAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

his followers. They returned the tire, mortally wounding the 
brave youth, who died an hour later. After Hudson fell, the 
mob returned to the house and poured a volley in at the win- 
dew, seriously wounding Mrs. Condor, and riddling Berry's 
corpse. They then retired, taking with them the body of their 
leader. 

The little congregation of men, women and children, who 
had fled to the woods, now came back upon the tragic scene, 
and with tears and wailings the bodies of the murdered mis- 
sionaries and the young heroes who had met their death in a 
vain attempt to save the lives of their friends, were prepared 
for burial and laid side by side in mother earth. 

Tidings of the tragedy were wired to Elder B. H. Roberts, 
at Chattanooga; he, in the absence of President John Morgan, 
having charge of the Southern States Mission. Roberts tele- 
graphed the news to Morgan at Salt Lake City, and then, 
assisted by Elder J. Golden Kimball and others, took imme- 
diate steps to recover the bodies of the missionaries, that they 
might be sent to Utah. The scene of the massacre was in the 
midst of a mob-infested section, to enter which was extremely 
perilous. But President Roberts, disguising himself and pur- 
suing a roundabout course, reached Cane Creek and accom- 
plished his errand. Willis R. Robison, one of the missionaries, 
was released to take the bodies home. 

A Ccmmunity in Mourning. — As the funeral train pro- 
v!eeded northward through the Utah settlements, sympathetic 
a.nd sorrowing crowds assembled at the railroad stations to 
pay tributes to the dead. Flags floated at half mast, and 
l^ands played solemn dirges. At Provo the remains of Elder 
Berry were transferred from the Denver and Rio Grande to a 
Utah Central train, and conveyed to Milford; thence by team 
to Kanarra, Iron County. The body of Elder Gibbs was sent 
to his home in Paradise, Cache County. At each of these 
]. laces and in Salt Lake City, funeral services were held on 
Sunday, the 24th of August. Since the Standing murder, 
no such demonstration of grief had been known in Utah, not 
excepting the general sorrow felt over the death of Cap- 
tain Andrew Burt, Marshal and Chief of Police of Salt Lake 
Citv, who, on the 25th of August, 1883, had been shot by a 
•negro desperado, whom he was arresting for a disturbance of 
the peace.* 

♦Officer Charles H. W'ilckcn, who assisted Captain Burt, 
was dangerously wounded li}- the same assassin, who was armed 
with a Winchester rifle and a rrvcdver, while Burt and Wilcken were 
without a weapon. Half :ui lionr after the death of Captain Burt, his 
murdiTer was lynclicd liy a moh. ( )ctMn-rences of tliis kind, always 
rcerettalilc and alwavs to lie condennied, have been exceedingly rare 
Jf.'Utah. 



AN Ai'i'KUAClllNG STORM. 375 

Unwhipped of Justice. — Leading papers throughout the 
hiiid denounced the murder of the missionaries, and demanded 
that justice be done upon the perpetrators. Efforts to this 
end were made by the authorities of the State of Tennessee, 
fiovernor W. B. Bate, after some hesitation, betokening re- 
luctance, offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the ap- 
prehension of the murderers, or for information leading to their 
capture. But all in vain; they were never discovered. Anti- 
" Mormon" feeling increased in the South, and those who had 
befriended the missionaries on Cane Creek were finally com- 
pelled to leave the State.* 

Placing the Responsibility. — Responsibility for the four- 
fold crime was placed by local writers and speakers upon 
"Anti-Mormon" agitators, who were accused of circulating 
incendiary literature for the purpose of arousing hostile sen- 
timent against "Mormon" missionaries in every part of the 
Nation. A sample story fabricated and published by them 
some time before the Tennessee tragedy took place, purported 
to describe how one "Bishop West," of Juab, Utah, in the 
course of a violent harangue to his Sabbath congregation, 
urged them to assassinate Governor Murray. This fiction 
was easily refuted ; there being no Bishop West in the "Mor- 
mon" Church at that time, and no public meeting of any kind 
at Juab on the date given. It happened to be a season of high 
v.'ater, and the inhabitants of the little town, dispensing with 
their usual Sunday service, had turned out in force to save 
their homes from the flood. 

The Governor of Utah came in for his share of censure in 
this connection, he having telegraphed to the Governor of 
Tennessee soon after the massacre, thanking him for his efforts 
to discover and punish the guilty parties, but in the same 
telegram referring to the murdered missionaries as "agents" 
sent out by "representatives of organized crime." 

The Anti-Mormon Power. — The prevailing sentiment 
against polygamy, with the laws in iorce for its suppression, 
added to the belief that the Church leaders manipulated polit- 
ical, commercial, and other matters for personal ends, and 
that their followers were not free to act for themselves, made 
it easy for agitators, with moti\es both good and bad, to sow 
the seeds of hostility against the unpopular "Mormons." 
In and out of Utah, there was a combination against them, 
formidable both in ninnbers and in influence. Governors, 



*Maiiassa and other towns in Conejos Count}', Colorado, were 
founded about that time, many of the early settlers being "Mormon" 
emigrants from tlie Snntlicrn Stritcs. Some of these al^o moved into 
Arizona. 



376 WHITNEY'S POin'I.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

judges, attorneys, editors, magazine writers. Congressmen. 
]>oliticians, and preachers, all united to carry on or encourage 
tlie Anti-"Mormon" crusade. 

Diverse Elements. — Many of these were honorable, high- 
minded men, contending for a cause; that cause the Govern- 
ment's, in the assertion of its authority over a supposedly re- 
calcitrant community, and the enforcement of its laws against 
a social condition believed by a majority of the Nation to be 
immoral and degrading; a belief based largely upon gross 
misrepresentation. These men, though disliking certain 
features of the "Mormon" faith and polity, did not wish to be 
considered enemies to the "Mormon" people; nor were they 
so considered, when they came to be fully understood. They 
joined in the demand for certain concessions — the surrender 
of plural marriage, and the divorcement of that widely pro- 
claimed union of Church and State which the "Mormons" 
declared to be a fiction and the "Gentiles" asserted to be a fact ; 
but these concessions once made, the "war" would be over, 
so far as that class was concerned. 

Mingled, however, with this more moderate element, were 
some who cherished feelings of malignant hatred toward 
everything "Mormon"- — doctrine, discipline, priesthood, and 
people. If any of them ever laid aside such feelings, or for- 
bore to express them, it was only long enough to secure a cov- 
eted favor from the objects of their enmity, individually or 
collectively. Could these zealots^political and religious — 
have had their way, the Church would have been destroyed 
root and branch. No concessions that might be made would 
satisfy their souls. The Church leaders were their special 
aversion. If the sheep could have been induced to forsake their 
shepherds, the animosity of these extremists would have been 
greatly modified. 

More than one self-seeking adventurer found it to their 
interest to join h^nds with this hostile element, and help along 
the work of reconstruction — the "reformation" of people better 
than themselves. Of course they posed as patriots; such 
characters always do. But patriots are of two kinds — real 
and pretended, and one familiar with the facts need not be 
told to which class such persons properly belonged. 

Those who profited by the agitation so hurtful to the com- 
munity at large, quite naturally sought to promote it. Others, 
who had nothing to gain and something to lose from the ex- 
citement and ill-feeling continually fomented — "Gentile" busi- 
ness men, who knew that peace meant prosperity, while strife 
tlireatened the opposite — eventually made it manifest that they 



AN APPROACHING STORM. Z77 

were not altogether in harmony with the course pursued by 
their radical associates. 

"Mormon" Motives. — The fear that the Church was in 
danger, particularly from a certain class, made the Priesthood 
all the more tenacious of the power they wielded, and which 
their enemies charged them with misusing and abusing. The 
"?vIormon" leaders were not understood by their opponents — 
not even by those nearest to them and who thought they could 
read them thoroughly. They were not credited with the real 
motives that actuated them. Whatever their shortcomings — 
and none among them have ever claimed to be perfect — they 
were not selfishly seeking their own aggrandizement. They 
were not coveting wealth and worldly honors. Love of power 
— a perfectly legitimate principle when properly controlled and 
rightly directed — has never been the ruling motive with the 
"Mormon" Priesthood. They have always been one with their 
people in zeal for and devotion to a cause which both believe 
to be divine. And that zeal and devotion have been mistaken 
for and confounded with mere love of self and lust of do- 
minion. Those who charged them therewith were quite as 
open to suspicion on that score. 

Nor were these leaders the immoral characters that 
prejudice represented them to be. On the contrary, they were 
men of pure life and honest purpose, the peers of the best 
among their opponents. They were not using polygamy as a 
decoy to induce conversions — though this, among other things, 
was charged against them. Their alleged "cunning appeals to 
the base passions of men," in order to recruit their ranks and 
perpetuate their power, were in reality calls to repentance, ex- 
hortations to purity, self-denial, and disinterested effort for 
the promotion of a work altruistic 'and philanthropic to the 
core. 

Prominent During the Crusade. — The Federal officers most 
prominent in Utah at the beginning of "The Crusade," were 
Governor Eli H. Murray. Chief Justice Charles S. Zane, Asso- 
ciate Justices Orlando W. Powers and Jacob S. Boreman, Dis- 
trict Attorney William H. Dickson, Assistant District Attor- 
ney Charles S. Varian. and United States Marshal Edward A. 
Ireland. Governor Murray's antecedents have been given; 
and Judge Boreman has likewise been introduced to the reader. 
Concerning Judge Powers, more will be said anon. Mr. Dick- 
son was by birth a Canadian, but had become an American 
citizen and a resident on the* Pacific Coast prior to June, 1874. 
when he began the practice of his profession at Virginia City, 
Wvada. J^e remained there imtil 1882, and then took up his 



378 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



residence at Salt Lake City. Two years later he succeeded 
District Attorney Van Zile (resigned) and chose for an assist- 
ant his law partner, Mr. Varian, also from Nevada. Marshal 
Ireland, who had succeeded Colonel Shaughnessy in 1882, was 
in business at the Utah capital when he received his appoint- 
ment as a Federal officer. To this array may be added Secre- 
tary Thomas and the members of the Utah Commission. 

Chief Justice Zane. — Utah's new Chief Justice must have 
more than passing mention at this point. He was a native of 
New Jersey, but had resided since early youth in Illinois, 
where he farmed, taught school, and practiced law. He was 
v.'^ell acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, and when that great 
man became President, Charles Shuster Zane, then thirty 
years of age, succeeded him in the law firm of Lincoln and 
Herndon, at Springfield. Subsequently he was one of the 
firm of Cullom, Zane and Marcy, the senior member of which 
afterwards stood sponsor for the Cullom Bill in Congress. 
Judge Zane was presiding over a circuit court in Illinois, 
when he received from President Arthur his Utah appoint- 
ment. It had been procured for him, without solicitation on 
his part, by his fellow Republican, Senator Cullom, and by 
William M. Springer, Democratic member of the House of 

Representatives. The Chief 
Justice, accompanied by his 
familv, arrived at vSalt Lake 
City August 23. 1884. 

Not a Parallel. — Judge 
Zane, unlike Judge McKean, to 
whom he was at first compared, 
was not a religious man. That 
is to say, he subscribed to no 
special creed, and was inter- 
ested in no particular church. 
At the same time, as he stated 
in conversation with the writer 
hereof, he had faith in the 
Supreme Being, and in a gen- 
eral way considered himself a 
Christian. He Avas a moral 
man, one of upright tenden- 
cies, and if his attitude with 
reference to the Federal Con- 
stitution leaned from "strict 
construction" in the direction 
of "implied powers," it was but natural, considering his polit- 




JUDGE ZANF. 



AN A['PROACHING STORM. 379 

ical Irainitiii and affiliations. Al)()\c all, he was a zealous and 
determined advocate of the strict enforcement of the law. 

Backed by Law. — Let it be remembered, also, that Judge 
Zane and those al)t)Ut him, however strained at times their legal 
constructions, and however extreme some of their official acts, 
had law behind them, to back up their proceedings; and were 
not in precisely the same situation that Judge McKean and 
his associates had been — who, in the absence of Congressional 
enactments, legislated for themselves, and enforced with 
judicial authority the "laws" of their own creation. Con- 
gress, after much pushing and prodding, had acted favorably 
upon certain features of some of the "Anti-Mormon" measures 
previously presented to and rejected by that body, and to effect 
a special purpose had made lawful the once unlawful "legisla- 
tion." And the Supreme Court of the Land having put the 
seal of its approval thereon — presto, change! All was differ- 
ent. Black became white, by legislative and judicial pro- 
nouncement. 

Open Venire and the Poland Law. — Chief Justice Zane, 
immediately after his installation, found himself confronted by 
a question upon which the attorneys of his court were much 
divided. It arose while the Grand Jury was being empaneled 
for the September term of 1884. Several days had been con- 
sumed in the process, and so many jurors had been rejected 
fc^r their avowed belief in the rightfulness of plural marriage, 
that the jury box containing the names of persons qualified 
to serve in that capacity was exhausted ; and yet but eleven 
of. the required fifteen jurymen had been obtained. Thereupon 
Assistant District Attorney Varian moved that the United 
States Marshal be empowered to summon on open venire a 
sufficient number of persons to complete the panel. 

Tn the early days of the Territory it had been customary 
t(. select and summon jurors precisely as Mr. Varian now 
proposed. But that custom had been abandoned, the Legis- 
lature having enacted a law requiring jurors to be drawn by 
lot from the names found upon the county assessment rolls. 
The drawing was done l)v the Territorial Marshal or his dep- 
uty; the names having first been placed in the jury l)ox b\- 
the members of the County Court. That ]:)ractice prevailed 
until 1874. when Congress gave the Poland Law to goxern 
the jury system of Utah. 

The Poland Law ])rovided that in January of each year a 
list from which grand and jietit jurors were to be drawn should 
be prepared jointly by tlio Cloik nl" the i)isiriit Court and llii' 
P'-obate Judge of tlir ( nuuty. VUv ( k'rk and the Judge- -tin- 
ff-rnicr a "Gentile." the latter a ".Mormon" — selected alter- 
natelv the names of two hundred resident male citizens, and 



380 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

from this list jurors were drawn to serve at any term of the 
District Court during that year. Prior to the drawing, which 
was done by the United States Marshal or his deputy in open 
court and in the presence of the District Judge, the names 
were put on separate slips of paper, placed in a covered box, 
and thoroughly mixed and mingled. This manner of provid- 
ing jurors had continued for ten years without interruption. 
Not until April, 1884, when Chief Justice Hunter caused the 
panel of a grand jury to be filled in a slightly irregular way, 
does there appear to have been any deviation from the rule. 
Judge Hunter did not authorize a writ of open venire, but 
directed the drawing of additional names from the jury box 
and the summoning of their owners to serve, without the 
tv.-elve days' notice required by law. 

Discussion by Attorneys. — But now the jury box was ex- 
hausted, the regular list of two hundred names having proved 
inadequate ; and the District Court must either adjourn until 
January, 1885, when a fresh list might be provided, or resort 
to the open venire method of obtaining jurors. Before reach- 
ing a decision, Judge Zane invited a discussion of the subject 
b)^ the attorneys present. Some of them held the Poland Law 
to be exclusive, Congress having enacted it so that "Mor- 
mons" and "Gentiles" might have equal representation 
in the jury box, and it was argued that if the grand 
jury were not formed in the manner thus authorized, 
it would be a nullity. Others reasoned thus : Congress 
had provided that four terms of court — February, April, 
September, and December — should be held yearly in each 
judicial district of the Territory. Two of these terms 
for 1884 would have to lapse if jurors could not be obtained. 
The statute governing the selection of jurors having been ex- 
hausted, the court must use the necessary means to bring its 
powers into exercise. The Engiebrecht case and Judge Mc- 
Kean's illegal grand juries had been mentioned. But it was 
argued that the present situation differed from the one exist- 
ing at that time. Then the court refused to pursue the method 
provided by the Legislature. Now the means provided by 
Congress was exhausted, and it was the duty of the court to 
exercise the common law power. 

The Grand Jury Complete. — Judge Zane granted the mo- 
tion for a writ of open venire, and Marshal Ireland, armed 
with that process, sallied forth into the streets. In a short 
time he returned bringing with him eight jurors, four of whom 
were accepted, making the Grand Jury complete. With one 
exception all its members were "Gentiles," and the "Mormon" 
was a disbeliever in polygamy. The fr>reman, one of those 
summoned upon open venire, was an adventurer who had 



AN APPROACHING STORM. 381 

formerly professed the "Mormon" faith — long enough to marry 
a widow who had been a plural wife — but had left the Church, 
and was now numbered among its bitterest foes. It was the 
presence of such characters in the community — a community 
torn with factional strife, and not to be compared with any 
other within the confines of the Republic; — it was this, and 
the dread of packed juries — packed to convict — that consti- 
tuted the main objection to this method of obtaining jui-ors. 

The Clawson Case. — Judge Zane's first polygamy case 
was also the first, under the Edmunds Law, to be submitted 
to a trial jury. The defendant was Rudger Clawson, a son of 
Bishop Hiram B. Clawson, of Salt Lake City. His mother, 
Margaret Judd Clawson, was a plural wife. He was a young 
man of good character and exemplary habits. The part played 
by him when his fellow missionary, Joseph Standing, was 
killed in the State of Georgia, has already been mentioned. 
His alleged plural wife was Lydia Spencer, a daughter of 
Daniel Spencer, one of the pioneer settlers of Salt Lake Valley. 
The Clawsons and Spencers were among the most respected 
families in the community. 

Rudger Clawson had been indicted for polygamy and un- 
lawful cohabitation while Chief Justice Hunter was still upon 
the Bench. His attorney, Franklin S. Richards, had moved to 
set aside the indictment on the ground that the Grand Jury 
which presented it was illegal. In the formation of that body 
fifteen persons ("Mormons") had been challenged and excused 
for avowing a belief in plural marriage, while ten others ("Gen- 
tiles") had been accepted without question as to their belief in 
polygamy or unlawful cohabitation. Five other names had 
been drawn from the jury box without the previous notice 
required by law. For these reasons, it was contended, the 
indictment should be set aside. 

The ground taken for the exclusion of "Mormons" from 
the Grand Jury was furnished by that section of the Edmunds 
Act providing that in any prosecution for polygamy or un- 
lawful cohabitation, polygamists, or believers in polygamy, or 
persons living in or believing it right to live in the practice of 
cohabiting with more than one woman, should be rejected as 
jurors. The defense in the Clawson case contended that this 
provision did not apply to grand jurors, but only to petit 
jurors. The argument before Judge Hunter took place in 
April, 1884, but no decision was reached. Six months later 
Judge Zane, upon a renewed motion, was asked to set aside 
the indictment, and the motion was then argued and overruled. 

First Trial — Jury Disagree. — The Clawson case came to 
trial on the 15th of October. The court room was crowded. 



3S2 WlinNl-:VS l'( )1'II..\R IILSIOKY Ol' UTAH. 

intense interest being- manifested in the proceedings. The 
twelve jurymen were all "Gentiles," and two of them had been 
secured by the open venire process. According to the indict- 
ment the defendant had married his first wife in August, 1882 
and his plural wife in June, 1883. The principal witness for 
the prosecution was a fellow employee with the defendant in 
the Spencer Clawson Wholesale Dry Goods house, at Salt 
Lake City. This witness, James E. Caine, testified that Rud- 
g-er Clawson, in conversation with him, had admitted that 
Lydia Spencer was his plural wife. (3n the 17th of October. 
President John Taylor was upon the witness stand, it being 
the purpose of the prosecution to fix the fact of Rudger Claw- 
son's plural marriage, and obtain information regarding a mar- 
riage record supposed to be kept at the Endowment House. 
The President was asked by U. S. Attorney Dickson if such a 
record existed, and if so would he "be good enough to produce 
it, or make inquiry concerning it?" The "Mormon" leader 
replied: "I don't think I am good enough;" and the smile 
accompanying his words was reflected upon the faces of nearly 
all present. "What is the ceremony of plural marriage?" then 
asked the prosecuting attorney. "I decline to state it," an- 
swered the witness. "Do you know whether the defendant 
has taken a plural wife?" "I do not." Such was the substance 
of President Taylor's testimony. President George Q. Cannon 
was likewise called as a witness, with about the same result. 
Several others were examined, but their testimonv was not of 
any special import. 

Arguments of counsel followed, Dickson and \"arian for 
the prosecution, Bennett and Richards for the defense. The 
United States Attorney, in his closing address, said: "Gentle- 
men of the Jury, let me trust that none of you will be fright- 
ened by the assertion that if the defendant were found guilty, 
the 'Mormon' people would have it to say that it was because 
his jury were 'Gentiles.' If you have any reasonable doubt, let 
him have the advantage of it ; but do not, I entreat you, be 
frightened out of what is just and right." The Judge then 
charged the jury and they retired. Next morning they came 
into court, and by their foreman. Major Edmund Wilkes, 
stated that they were unable to agree ; eight standing for con- 
viction and four for acquittal. The jury was discharged. 

Second Trial — Defendant Convicted. — But this was not 
the end of the matter. A sudden turn in affairs took place 
immediately after the discharge of the trial jury. The defend- 
ant's plural wife, up to that time a missing witness, was found 
and taken into custody by the United States Marshal. In re- 
sponse to the summons served upon her, she appeared in court 



AX Ari'KOACLllNG STOKM. 



383 



next morniiij?. and a new trial was set to take place in the 
afternoon.* 

At the hour appointed the attorneys for the defense moved 
for a change of venue; the grounds being the open venire rul- 
ings of the court, and certain utterances of the Salt Lake 
Tribune, which paper, according to Judge C. W. Bennett, 
"by its abuse of witnesses and jurors during and after the late 
trial, had aroused a bitter prejudice against the defendant, who 
therefore felt that he could not 
have a fair trial in this court." 
The motion was overruled, and 
a jurv empaneled by ojx'n 
venire. 

Lvdia Spencer, when called 
to testify, refused to be sworn 
as a witness. Persisting in her 
refusal, she was committed t' 
the Penitentiary. Brought in 
to court on the following morn- 
ing, she. at the request of tin 
defendant, took the requirc( 
oath and admitted that she w;i^ 
the wife of Rudger Clawson. 
The case was submitted witli- 
nut argument, and the verdict 
was "guilty on both ccnmts 
the indictment." 

A Bold Speech and a Se- 
vere Sentence. — Rudger Claw- 
son received sentence on the 
third day of November. When 
asked by Judge Zane if he had 
any legal cause to show why 
judgment should not be pronounced, he replied: 

"Your Honor, I very much regret that the laws of my 




UriiCF.k Cr. \\\ Si )X 



*While Marshal Ireland was searching for the main witness, one 
of his deputies tried to serve papers upon Mrs. Margaret Clawson, the 
mother of the defendant. "She is not at home," said Bishop Clawson, 
answering the ring at his front door. "I want to search the house," 
persisted the deputy, Captain J. W. Greenman. "You can't search my 
house without a warrant authorizing you to do so," was the resolute 
reply. The officer then departed. While this dialogue was in progress, 
some of the inmates of the dwelling executed a little plot for their own 
diversion. One of the Clawson boys, tricked out in gown, bonnet and 
shawl, hastily left the house by a side entrance and in great apparent 
trepidation got into a carriage and was driven rapidly away. Half a 
dozen deputies, till then in concealment, made a wild dash for the re- 
ceding vehicle, and kept up the vain pursuit until the carriage, with 
its fun-convulsed occupant, vani'^hed in the darkness. 



384 WHITNKVS J'Ul'ULAR HISTOkV OF UTAH. 

country should come in conflict with the laws of God ; but 
whenever they do, I shall invariably choose the latter. If I 
did not so express myself, I should feel unworthy of the 
cause I represent. The Constitution of the United States ex- 
pressly says that Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof. It cannot be denied, I think, that marriage, when at- 
tended and sanctioned by religious rites and ceremonies, is 
an establishment of religion. The law of 1862 and the Ed- 
munds Law were expressly designed to operate against mar- 
riage as practiced and believed in by the Latter-day Saints. 
They are therefore unconstitutional, and of course cannot 
command the respect that a constitutional law would. That 
is all I have to say, your Honor." 

The Judge seemed taken by surprise. Leaning back in 
his chair, he meditated for several minutes, and then, with 
a look of deep gravity, said: "The Constitution of the United 
States, as construed by the Supreme Court, does not protect 
any person in the practice of polygamy. While all men have 
a right to worship God according to the dictates of their own 
conscience, and to entertain any religious belief that their con- 
science and judgment may reasonably dictate, they have not 
the right to engage in a practice which the American people, 
through the laws of their country, declare to be unlawful and 
injurious to society." The fact that the defendant had been 
taught that polygamy was right, would be taken into con- 
sideration ; but so also would his deliberate violation of the 
law. "I should have been inclined to make the punishment 
lighter," added the Judge, "had you not openly declared that 
you believe it right to violate the law." 

Upon the first count of the indictment — polygamy — it was 
ordered and adjudged that the defendant pay a fine of five 
hundred dollars, and that he be imprisoned for a period of 
three years and six months. Upon the second count — un- 
lawful cohabitation — he was to pay a fine of three hundred 
dollars, and be imprisoned for six months; the second term 
of imprisonment to begin at the expiration of the first. 

The Case on Appeal. — Mr. Clawson was forthwith con- 
veyed to the Penitentiary; a motion made by his attorneys^ 
that he be allowed to continue on bail till his case could be 
heard at Washington, being denied by the Judge. The Su- 
preme Court of the Territory, after a hearing in habeas cor- 
pus, affirmed the decision of the District Court, and the bail 
question was carried on appeal to the Court of Last Resort. 
The main issue — the alleged illegality of the Grand Jury — 
was also ruled upon by the Territorial Supreme Court, and 
by a majority opinion the decision of the trial court was 



AN APPROACHING STORM. 3&5 

affirmed; Associate Justice Emerson withholding an expres- 
sion of his views. The case was then taken to Washington. 

The Final Decree. — The Supreme Court of the United 
States decided the Clawson case early in 1885. The bail ques- 
tion was disposed of on the 19th of January, and the Grand 
Jury question on the 20th of April. The granting of bail to 
the defendant pending appeal was adjudged to be discretion- 
ary with the court that tried him. The decision was not 
unanimous; Justices Miller and Field dissenting. In the 
other issue, which had gone up on a writ of error, the mem- 
bers of the Court were a unit. They held that the Grand 
Jury which indicted Rudger Clawson had been legally formed, 
and that the rejected grand jurors were properly excluded. 
It was also determined that the District Court had the right, 
when the jur}^ list was exhausted, to go outside the Poland 
Law and summon jurors on open venire. 

The Evans Case. — Another polygamy trial soon followed, 
one in which Joseph H. Evans, a blacksmith, was the party 
defendant. His conviction was an easy task; his plural wife, 
Harriet Parry, and her mother, Elizabeth Parry, being willing 
witnesses against him. Evans was fined two hundred and 
fifty dollars, and sentenced to imprisonment for three years 
and six months. His case was associated with that of Rud- 
ger Clawson in the appeal proceedings that followed. 

Peterson's Predicament. — On the day that the Evans trial 
closed, one Andrew Peterson was before Judge Zane, charged 
with polygamy and with illegal voting as a polygamist. He 
had been indicted for going through a vicarious marriage cere- 
mony with a lady friend, a widow, who was thus "sealed" to 
her departed husband. Mr. A'^arian made known these facts 
to the Court, and moved for a dismissal of the indictment, 
stating that it was "a celestial marriage." "A celestial mar- 
riage?" queried Judge Zane. "Well, I guess that's beyond 
our jurisdiction;" and thereupon dismissed the case with a 
benignant smile. 

Caine Versus Smith. — November, 1884, witnessed the re- 
currence of the regular Delegate election. The People's Party 
were again victorious, returning John T. Caine to Congress 
by a vote of 22,120 as against 2,215, the latter being the 
vote cast for the Liberal candidate, Captain Ransford Smith, 
of Ogden. Comparison of figures will show that neither party 
polled as heavily as at the election two years before. 

Democracy Triumphant. — The triumph of the National 
Democracy, resulting in the election of Grover Cleveland as 
President of the United States, was the occasion of a great 
popular demonstration at Salt Lake City and in other parts of 
Utah. On the night of November 8th, the election result hav- 

24 



386 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



ing been ascertained, bonfires blazed, rockets soared, bands 
played, and cannon thundered, while mammoth meetings were 
addressed by "Mormon" and "Gentile" orators — such as were 
willing to affiliate for that purpose. The principal gathering 
was at the capital, in front of the City Hall, where the mul- 
titude thronged the street, while the speakers held forth from 
the balcony. Among these were Mayor Jennings, Delegate 
Caine, Judge W. N. Dusenberry, Aurelius Miner, Hadley D. 
Johnson, T. V. Williams, T. B. Lewis, H. J. Faust, and Dr. 
J. M. Benedict. Outside the Salt Lake Herald office, an- 
other meeting was addressed by Byron Groo, the editor of 
that paper, and by S. R. Thurman, D. C. Dunbar and others. 
No former Presidential election had caused in Utah anything 
a])proaching so spontaneous and enthusiastic an outburst of 
iL-eneral rejoicing. Delegate Caine, who was chairman of the 
City Hall proceedings, and had been acting for some time as a 
member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Com- 
mittee, sent a telegram to the President-elect, at Albany, New 
\ork, informing him of this jubilation in his honor, and 

warmly congratulating him up- 
on his election. 

The "Gentile" Democrats, 
as a body, had no part nor lot 
in this matter. Factional feeling 
was too strong to permit of 
any affiliation. Independently, 
however, they assembled at the 
Walker Opera House, on the 
evening of November 19th, and 
ratified the election of Cleve- 
land and Hendricks. Speeches 
were made by Judge Ros- 
borough, Captain Ransford 
Smith, P. L. Williams, Judge 
Sutherland, Thomas Marshall, 
L. E. Holden, and Judge Can- 
field 

The Young Democracy. — 
Meantime, as an indirect result 
of the national election, a new 
political movement had been 
launched. "The Young Democ- 
racy," as it was called, or- 
ganized on the 12th of No- 
\'ember "The Democratic Club of Utah." It was designed 
as a rallying point for the young men of the Territory whose 
views were such that thev could not conscientiouslv train 




r.YRON GROG 



AN APPROACHING STORM. 



387 



either with the People or with the Liberals. Men like 
Joseph L. Rawlins, Alfales Young, Ben Sheeks, John M. 
Young, Joseph T. Kingsbury, L. S. Hills, A. L. Williams, 
Herbert Pembroke, and George A. Meears were the leading 
spirits of the organization. A number of veterans, includ- 
ing Judge Sutherland, Bolivar Roberts, and C. R. Barratt, also 
connected themselves with the cause. The Club started a 
paper called "The Salt Lake Democrat." But the movement 
was not popular; it was premature. After the general elec- 
tion in 1885, when the Young Democracy put its first ticket 
in the field, and, with all other opposition, was snowed 
under by the People's voters, the new party gradually dwin- 
dled and died— fell asleep to await the political resurrection 
that came a few years later, when the citizens of Utah divided 
on national party lines. 

Changes in the Judiciary.— Contrary to general expecta- 
tion, the advent of the Democratic Administration was not 
sio-nalized by sweeping official changes in this Territory. 
President Cleveland was very deliberate in that direction, be- 
ing wedded to the policy of 
"Civil Service Reform." So 
long as Federal officers faith- 
fully discharged their duties, 
and were not "offensive par- 
tisans," he allowed them to re- 
main in place, regardless of 
their political affiliations. One 
of those who went out of office, 
but retired of his own volition, 
was Associate Justice Emer- 
son, who, being a staunch Re- 
publican, resigned in March, 
1885, at the incoming of 
the Cleveland Administration. 
Judge Emerson did not look 
with favor upon the anti- 
polygamy crusade. He was op- 
posed to making a specialty of 
any class of cases, and would 
treat polygamy like any other 
ofTense against the laws. His 
successor. Judge Powers, was 
a native of the State of New York, but had been for many 
years a resident of Michigan. Judge Twiss, retiring in Janu- 
ary of that year, had been succeeded by his predecessor, Judge 
Boreman. 




JUDGE SUTI1ERL\XD 



XXVIII. 
UNDER THE HARROW. 

1885. 

The "Mormon" System Assailed. — At the beginning of 
operations under the anti-polygamy laws those first called to 
account were persons of little prominence, whose domestic 
affairs were revealed by informers equally or entirely un- 
known. Soon, however, it was determined to assail the head 
and front of the "Mormon" system, bringing such a pressure 
to bear upon the chief men of the Church that they would 
feel compelled to yield to the demands made upon them, and 
influence others to follow their example. A rigorous and stern 
policy was thought to be necessary, in order to insure speedy 
results. Such a policy was accordingly pursued. 

Bygones Should be Bygones. — The narration of the un- 
pleasant facts recorded in this volume is not intended to stir 
up bitter memories or perpetuate senseless feuds and dif- 
ferences. Such events could never happen again. They be- 
long to the dead past. No present-day person or class is 
held responsible for them, and bygones should be treated as 
bygones. Nevertheless, happen they did — the page of history 
contains them — and no record of those times would be com- 
plete if they were omitted. This is the reason, and the only 
reason, for their reproduction here. 

Methods of the Crusade. — It was assumed that most of 
the "Mormon" leaders practiced plural marriage, and that 
those who did not, were at least believers in its rightfulness. 
Belief, if expressed in a defense of the doctrine, was deemed 
by some almost equivalent to the practice. Against the men 
who were regarded as "pillars of the Church," the Govern- 
ment prosecutors prepared to move. Presidents, Apostles, 
Bishops, and other prominent Elders must be made to feel the 
heavy hand of the law, in order to induce a declaration of sur- 
render. To reach the desired end. the local courts proceeded 
to extreme lengths, so extreme that their acts, in some in- 
stances, were repudiated and nullified by the higher powers. 

As a result of the harsh enforcement of the law, the whole 
community was terrorized. Special Government funds having 
been provided for the purpose, a large force of deputy mar- 
shals was employed, and a system of espionage inaugurated. 
"Hunting cohabs" became a lucrative employment. Paid in- 



UNDER THE HARROW. 389 

formers, men and women, were set to work to ferret out of- 
fenses punishable under the recently enacted Congressional 
legislation. Some of these assumed the role of peddlers, or of 
tramps, imposing upon the good feelings of those whom they 
sought to betray. Others passed themselves ofif as tourists 
intent upon gathering information respecting the country and 
it? resources. Children going to or returning from school 
were stopped by strangers upon the street and interrogated 
concerning the relations and acts of their parents. At night 
dark forms prowled around people's premises, peering into 
windows, or watching for the opening of doors, to catch glimp- 
ses of persons supposed to be inside. More than one of the 
liirelings thrust themselves into sick rooms and women's bed 
cluimbers, rousing the sleepers by pulling the bed clothes from 
olT them. If admittance was refused, houses would be broken 
into. Delicate and refined women, about to become mothers 
or with infants in arms, were awakened at unseemly hours and 
conveyed long distances through the night, to be arraigned 
before United States Commissioners. Male fugitives, if they 
did not immediately surrender when commanded, were fired 
upon. All these statements are susceptible of proof; many 
of them being referred to in public documents and newspapers 
of that period. 

The regular officers, as a rule, performed their duties in a 
considerate manner. But included among or associated with 
them were a number of swaggering ruffians, blustering, threat- 
ening, brandishing revolvers, frightening women and children 
— in short, making themselves as objectionable as possible to 
the victims of their relentless pursuit. Such misconduct was 
not confined to Utah. It was especially manifest in Idaho, 
where the crusade was carried on with vindictive rigor. 

Connected with the courts was a regularly employed of- 
ficial accuser, but the duties of this functionary were mostly 
formal, the complaints signed by him being almost invariably 
second hand. Aside from the knowledge thus obtained, he 
knew no more in most cases about the persons he complained 
of. than about the inhabitants of Jupiter or Mars. The U. S. 
Marshal and his deputies were wont to say that their success 
in discovering cases liable to prosecution was owing less to 
official sagacity than to the voluntary action of men's neigh- 
bors or former friends, who, for various reasons, were induced 
tc: lodge information against them. Zeal for the law played its 
part, but frequently it was some private grudge or other un- 
v/orthy motive that inspired the delator. All this, however, 
was to be expected under such conditions. 

Special Police and Defense Fund. — To guard lidmes and 
families against the aggressions of the night prowlers, bodies 



390 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

of special police were organized, and at times the hunters 
became the hunted. That so little friction and violence 
came out of such a situation, is a marvel, and one that speaks 
trumpet-tongued for the good order and self-control of the 
tantalized and trodden community. They were better men 
and women than those who trampled upon them. It is doubt- 
ful that any other American community would have endured 
so patiently under similar circumstances. No Ku Klux Klan 
arose in Utah, as it did in the South during- the Reconstruction 
regime. The dreadful "Danites" again failed to appear, prov- 
ing- once more the falsity of the tales as to their existence and 
unspeakable atrocities. 

One reason — though not the main one — why the people 
were patient, was the well founded suspicion that violent re- 
sistance was precisely what the opposition most desired. They 
knew that any deed of retaliation resulting in the serious in- 
jury of even a sp3^ would be magnified a hundred fold and 
used as an argument for the abrogation of civil government 
and the institution of martial law in the already afflicted 
Territory. The spies and spotters were also aware of this 
fact, and took advantage of it with a boldness resembling 
bravery, a courage more apparent than real. Their pathway, 
wet with the tears of women and children, was not strewn with 
many perils to themselves. 

Among the measures adopted by those against whom 
the Edmunds Law was enforced, was a defense fund, in- 
stituted to pay the legal expenses and in a few instances 
the fines of persons unable to bear the heavy financial burdens 
entailed upon them by these prosecutions. The creation of 
this fund was characterized by those hostile to it as "a banding 
together of criminals to defeat the ends of justice." It was 
charged that the whole "Mormon" community was "in open 
hostility and rebellion against the Government of the United 
States." 

Those who were "under the harrow" took a dififerent view. 
They felt that they had the right, and that it was their duty, 
to defend themselves in every legitimate way; that something 
more was required of them than "immediate and unconditional 
surrender" to what they considered an unrighteous law, the 
repeal of which was hoped for, and seemed to them probable, 
if the issues involved were not too readily relinquished. This 
had been the case with the Fugitive Slave Law in former 
years — a Congressional statute pronounced constitutional by 
the Supreme Court of the Nation, but afterwards decided to be 
unconstitutional by the same high tribunal. Might it not be so 
with the Edmunds Law? This was the true "Mormon" posi- 
tion, and those who stood upon that ground were unable to 



UNDER THE HARROW. 



391 



see how such an attitude placed them "in open hostility and re- 
bellion against the Government." Nor is the proposition 
clear to the eye of history even at the present time. 

Outside of Utah. — Simultaneously with the commence- 
ment in Utah of the "Crusade" or "Raid" — for both terms 
were used to describe it— similar activities, suggesting if not 

indicating a common under- 

standing, were noticeable in 
Idaho and Arizona, in both of 
which Territories "Mormon" 
colonists had founded flourish- 
ing settlements. During the 
winter of 1884-1885, the Idaho 
Legislature enacted a law pro- 
viding that no polygamist, or 
any person who was a member 
of any order, organization, or 
association which taught, ad- 
vised, counseled, or encouraged 
its members to practice polyg- 
amy, should be permitted to 
vote at any election, or to hold 
any office of honor, trust, or 
profit within that Territory. 
This law incorporated a test 
oath covering these points, and 
the taking of the oath was re- 
quired of all citizens, as a con- 
dition precedent to voting or 
holding office. The effect of 
this enactment was to disfranchise from fifteen hundred to two 
thousand citizens, most of whom had broken no law. but were 
simply members of an unpopular Church. The act of disfran- 
chisement was followed by the arrest, conviction and impris- 
onment of many persons. Among those prosecuted under the 
Edmunds Law in Idaho were William D. Hendricks and Wil- 
liam Budge, presidents respectively of the Oneida and Bear 
Lake Stakes of Zion.* President Budge, charged with unlaw- 
ful cohabitation, was tried and acquitted at Blackfoot.f 
President Hendricks went into exile, and was next heard 




WILLIAM BUDGE. 



*The colonization of the Bear Lake country has been mentioned 
in a former chapter. Preston and other "Mormon" towns in Oneida 
and contiguous counties, were founded in 1879 and during subsequent 
years. 

tin the Budge case unusual leniency was shown. Judge Hayes 
told the trial jury that the evidence did not justify conviction, and 
that if they brought in a verdict of guilty he would set it aside. 



392 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

of in Mexico. Elder George C. Parkinson, one of the 
Oneida Stake Presidency, was proceeded against upon the 
charge of secreting a suspect of whom the officers were in 
search. Parkinson stoutly asserted his innocence, but was 
convicted on flimsy circumstantial evidence and sentenced to 
a year's imprisonment in the Penitentiary at Boise. The 
attorney who prosecuted him, doubting the justice of the judg- 
ment, afterwards helped to procure a pardon for him from the 
President of the United States. 

Arizona imitated Idaho in the matter of a test oath dis- 
franchising her "Mormon" citizens. But it did not remain per- 
manently upon the statute books. Governor Zulick recom- 
mended its repeal, and the Legislature acted upon his sug- 
gestion. Still, the Edmunds Law was enforced there for some 
time with much severity. The first oiTenders dealt with in Ari- 
7.ona were A. M. Tenney, P. J. Christofferson, and C. I. Kempe. 
Tliese Elders, in December, 1884, were sentenced by Judge Sum- 
ner Howard, former United States Attorney for Utah, each to 
pay a fine of five hundred dollars and to serve three years and 
six months in prison at hard labor. Their offense was unlaw- 
ful cohabitation, but the Court construed it as polygamy, and 
punished it as such. William J. Flake and Jens N. Skou- 
?en, pleading guilty to the minor charge, were each heavily 
fined and imprisoned. The first three of these five defendants 
were sent to the Detroit House of Correction, two thousand 
miles from the scene of their conviction — Prescott, Arizona; 
but were brought back to that Territory before the expiration 
of their terms. The others were placed in the Penitentiary at 
Yuma. 

The School Tax Case. — Parallel with some of these prose- 
cutions, an important civil case arose in the Seventh School 
District of Salt Lake City. There had been a demand for a new 
school house in that locality, the old building having become 
in-jidequate, and at a meeting called for the purpose it was pro- 
l)(ised to levy a special tax of one per cent upon the property in 
the district, to provide means for the erection of a more suit- 
able structure. Some of the "Gentiles" opposed the tax on the 
ground that the public schools of Utah were sectarian in char- 
acter. It was charged that the trustees would employ none 
but "Mormon' teachers, and that these teachers sought to dis- 
seminate their religious doctrines among the pupils. At the 
meeting where the tax was levied Judge John R. McBride — 
already mentioned in connection with the Campbell-Cannon 
Contest — warned polygamists not to vote, the occasion being, 
according to his logic, "an election within the meaning of the 
Edmunds Law." The majority in the district, scouting this 
notion, and denying the allegation as to the sectarian char- 



UNDER THE HARROW. 393 

acter of the schools, voted the tax and instructed the trustees 
to collect it. The trustees were Isaac M. Waddell, Henry 
Wallace and Benjamin G. Raybould ; the last named a non- 
"Mormon." Application was made for an injunction to re- 
strain the collection of the tax, and the case went into the 
District Court. 

Meantime the cjuestion as to whether a meetinj^ called to 
levy a school tax could properly be considered an election, was 
presented to the Utah Commission and by that body submitted 
to the Secretary of the Interior, Honorable Henry M. Teller. 
He laid it before United States Attorney General Brewster, 
who, after informing the Utah Commission that it had no jur- 
isdiction in the matter, expressed the opinion that a meeting of 
that kind was not an election within the meaning of the Ed- 
munds Law, and that polygamists as well as monogamists 
could vote on such an occasion, provided they were property 
tax payers and residents of the school district in which the 
meeting was held. 

Judge Zane and the Law. — The main question, involving 
the legality of the tax and the alleged pro-"Mormon" char- 
acter of the schools, came before Chief Justice Zane early in 
January, 1885. For an entire week, polygamy, priestcraft, 
Church and State, and the whole burning issue of "Gentileism" 
versus "Mormonism" occu])ied the time of the court and no 
small share of the attention of the public. Old sermons were 
read, doctrinal works cited, witnesses examined, and speeches 
made, until Judge, attorneys, spectators, and the subject were 
all equally exhausted. At the conclusion of the hearing the 
Court held it to have been substantially proved that the au- 
thorities of the "Mormon" Church claimed the right to counsel 
their followers in temporal as well as spiritual affairs ; and 
that as a general rule, though not in all cases, "Mormons" [the 
vast majority in Utah] had been employed to teach in the 
public schools; but it had not been shown that it was a com- 
mon practice to give sectarian instructi(jns in these schools. 
The weight of evidence was against the proposition that sec- 
tarian doctrines had been or would be taught in the Seventh 
District School, and as the proposed tax was in pursuance of 
a valid law it was collectable. 

Judge Zane was always strenuous for the enforcement of 
the law. He upheld the civil authorities in their efforts to re- 
strain the liquor traffic, and to abolish gambling and other 
evils. Some of his predecessors and their associates had been 
far less mindful of the general welfare. 

Angus M. Cannon's Arrest. — About this time the move- 
ment began for the prosecution of prominent churchmen 
known or "undcrstoiul to 1)c" jx^lvgamists. The first proceeded 



394 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



ag-ainst was Angus M. Cannon, President of the Salt Lake 
Stake of Zion. He was charged with polygamy and unlawful 
cohabitation, and had a preliminary hearing before United 
States Commissioner William McKay, one of the most active 
officials of his class and time. This was in the latter part 
of January. The evidence showed that Mr. Cannon recog- 
nized three women as his wives, and that he had married them 
before the enactment of the Edmunds Law. Two of his 
families had suites of rooms in one house, and the other 
family occupied a separate domicile. The defendant admitted 

taking meals with his families 
in the double house, where he 
had a sleeping apartment, but 
denied living with any of his 
wives after the Edmunds Law 
went into efifect. This was his 
answer to the charge of unlaw- 
inl cohabitation. As for polyg- 
amy, the woman in the case 
was not found when the officers 
went in quest of her, and that 
part of the complaint was dis- 
missed. The defendant was 
held in bonds to await the ac- 
tion of the Grand Jury, which 
subsequently indicted him. 

Unavailing Precautions.^ 
The defense set up by the pre- 
siding officer of the Salt Lake 
Stake was practically the same 
as had been determined on by 
the Church leaders in general. 
Immediately after the enact- 
ment of the Edmunds Law, 
President Taylor and others 
had taken steps to place themselves upon what they considered 
"the safe side of the line." While not putting away their 
wives or failing to provide for them and their children, each 
gave to his several families, so far as possible, separate homes, 
and ceased to live with them. The President, for instance, 
occupied his official residence, the Gardo House, called by 
some "The Amelia Palace," where his widowed sister, Mrs. 
Agnes Taylor Schwartz, had domestic charge; his families 
living in their own homes at a distance. Such precautions, 
however, availed nothing. 

In Arizona and Mexico. — At the time of Elder Cannon's 
arrest the head of the Church was absent on a visit to the 




ANGUS M. CANNON. 



UNDER THE HARROW. 395 

"Mormon" settlements in Arizona, whither he had gone to 
counsel and comfort his people residing- in that part. Presi- 
dent Taylor was accompanied by his second counselor, Presi- 
dent Joseph F. Smith, and by Erastus Snow, Brigham Young 
Tr., Francis M. Eyman and other Elders. At St. David, in the 
southeastern part of that Territory, they met the presiding 
officers of the four Arizona Stakes, and learned particulars of 
the local situation. The Presidency advised those who were 
liable to prosecution to keep out of the way so long as the 
law was unjustly administered.* 

Arrangements were made for the purchase of lands in 
Mexico, upon which families that were hunted and driven 
might settle. Sites were selected for that purpose in the State 
of Chihuahua, where some of the exiles were already en- 
camped, preparatory to establishing permanent homes. At 
Hermosillo, the capital of the State of Sonora, the "Mormon" 
leader and his party were kindly received by Governor Torres. f 

President Taylor's Farewell. — While at San Francisco. 
jc;Urneying homeward. President Taylor was warned that his 
arrest had been determined on and that it would not be safe 
for him to return to Utah. Nevertheless he started at once 
ior Salt Lake City. Upon arriving home, however, he found 
the situation such as to compel him to take his own counsel 
and keep out of the way of what he deemed an improper ad- 
ministration of the law. At the Tabernacle, on Sunday. Feb- 
ruary 1st, he preached his farewell discourse and made his 
last appearance in public. Detailing the principal incidents of 

*St. David and other "Mormon" towns in the San Pedro Valley 
had been founded in 1877, the year after the establishment of similar 
settlements along the Little Colorado river, where Lot Smith presided, 
with Jacob Hamblin and Lorenzo H. Hatch as his counselors. The 
San Pedro colonists and others in the Gila Valley were organized into 
a Stake, with Christopher Layton, David P. Kimball and James H. 
Martineau presiding. In 1878 the Salt River Valley was colonized, 
and Alexander F. McDonald, Henry C. Rogers and Charles I. Robson 
became the Stake presidency. Subsequently the Little Colorado set- 
tlements were divided into two Stakes, with David K. Udall and Jesse 
N. Smith as the respective presidents. 

f'Mormon" missionaries had been operating in Mexico since 1875, 
and a mission had been opened at the City of Mexico by Moses 
Thatcher, of the Council of the Twelve, in 1879. One of Elder 
Thatcher's companions, on a subsequent visit to that country, was 
Feramorz L. Young, son of President Brigham Young, who died and 
was buried at sea while crossing the Gulf of Mexico, homeward bound, 
September 28, 1881. A plan to establish "Mormon" colonies in 
Mexico was projected about that time, but not acted upon. At a later 
period ("1885) colonists settled on lands subsequently purchased by 
the Church, and in 189.'^ the Juarez .Stake was organized. Among tlie 
most conspicuous LTtah names connected with "Mormon" affairs in 
Mexico are Francis M. Lyman, Alexander. F. McDonald, and Anthony 
W. Tvins. 



396 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

his visit to Arizona, with the distress and suffering's that he 
had witnessed there, he now repeated the advice then given, 
applying it to all in similar situations. He likewise counseled 
the people to be patient and commit no violence, even if the 
officers of the law overstepped the bounds of their authority. 

In Retirement. — The venerable leader then retired from 
public view. "Taking the underground," it was termed ; a 
phrase borrowed from national history of pre-emancipation 
times, and having reference to a method employed by the 
Abolitionists to help fugitive slaves maintain their freedom. 
Many other prominent men did likewise.* 

From time to time the First Presidency communicated 
with the Church by means of epistles, which were read at the 
Annual or Semi-annual Conferences. These were usually 
held, the former in April, the latter in October, and generally 
at Salt Lake City, though there were deviations from this rule, 
when such towns as Provo and Logan became the scenes of 
like gatherings. Eventually most of the Church leaders re- 
appeared in public, but President Taylor was an exception. 
Only by certain members of his family and a few intimate 
friends, who accompanied him in his secret journeyings from 
place to place, acting as guards or messengers for him and his 
fellow exiles, was he again seen alive. Persistent efforts were 
put forth for the apprehension of the General Authorities. 
The President's Office, the Gardo House, the Historian's 
Office, and various private homes suspected of sheltering them, 
were searched, some of them repeatedly, by the U. S. Marshal 
and his deputies; but all in vain — the men most "wanted" were 
well out of the way. 

The Edmunds Law Declared Constitutional. — Late in 
March, 1885, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered 
its decision in the case of Murphy versus Ramsey. It declared 
the Edmunds Law constitutional, but nullified the test oath 
formulated by the Utah Commission. That Board, according 
to this decision, had no lawful power to prescribe conditions 
for registration or voting. One effect of the decree was to 
shatter the doctrine "once a polygamist always a polygamist." 
Henceforth men and women who had formerly lived in plural 
marriage, but had ceased to so live, might register and vote. 
Nevertheless a man was still a polygamist who, though he 
might be living with but one wife, continued to maintain the 



*"The 'underground railway' was in active operation by 1838. A 
constant northward movement of slaves went on. From abolitionist 
to abolitionist, at the chain of stations (private homes usually a night's 
journey apart) the fleeing slaves were passed until they were safe 
from pursuit, in Canada." — Guv Carlton Lcc, in "True History of the 
Civil War" (p. 82). 



uni)I':r the harrow. 397 

relation of husband to a plurality of wives, and had not in 
some way dissolved that relation. In what way, the Court de- 
clined to specify. The "Mormons" themselves believed their 
marriages indissoluble, being "for eternity," and not merely 
"for time." 

The "Promise to Obey." — The Murphy-Ramsey decision 
strengthened the hands of the Federal Courts in the Terri- 
tories. As if acting upon the suggestion from Washington 
relative to the dissolution of plural marriage relations, some of 
the District Judges now began to require from polygamous 
defendants arraigned before them, a promise that they would 
discontinue such relations and never again resume them. If 
they refused to make this promise, as most of them did, their 
punishment was made heavier on account of their unbending 
altitude. On the other hand, a "promise to obey" brought a 
lighter penalty, and in some instances a suspension of sentence 
"during good behavior." 

Constructive Cohabitation. — The Supreme Court ruling 
may have suggested another thought to the minds of those 
whose duty it was to interpret and enforce the Edmunds Law 
in Utah. Up to that time what constituted "unlawful cohabi- 
tation" had been a puzzling question to the local courts and 
their prosecuting officers. Judge Zane remarked that the term 
was "capable of as many meanings as a chameleon was of 
colors." It had been supposed, however, that sexual intimacy 
was a necessary element of the offense, and the Chief Justice 
in his decisions had virtually so held. But now a new light 
seemed to be thrown upon the subject. If a man living with 
Ijut one wife was in polygamy if he acknowledged other 
women as his wives, bound to him, as he believed, by ties 
eternal and indissoluble, would not a similar rule apply to un- 
lawful cohabitation? Was not a man guilty of that offense 
if he merely admitted himself to be the husband of a plurality 
of wives? We shall see how this thought materialized — how 
the suggestion bore fruit. 

Purpose of the Prosecution. — But why all these strained 
constructions, and the unusual procedure that accompanied 
them? Why would not the ordinary course and methods 
suffice? The main reason was that the Federal Courts lacked 
confidence in their ability to solve the "Mormon Problem" in. 
any other way than the one pursued. They were determined 
to succeed, whatever the strain, whatever the innovation, so 
long as they kept within hailing distance of the statute under 
which they operated. As already shown, those who conducted 
these prosecutions had a special, definite object in view. The 
polygamy of "John Doe," or the immoralit}^ of "Richard Roe," 



398 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

was but a minor issue in the controversy. The Edmunds 
Law, as interpreted by the Courts, had been enacted to put 
down plural marriage. Anything to stop it — was the prevail- 
ing sentiment against polygamy. But that was not all. "The 
Mormon Power" must be made to feel the pressure — must be 
pushed to the wall until willing to surrender. That was the 
paramount issue. The Church as a whole, rather than any 
individual member of it, was the target aimed at. Hence the 
term "Crusade" — objected to by some, but approved by others 
—as descriptive of these extraordinary proceedings. This fact 
l^orne in mind will explain many things referred to in the pres- 
ent narrati\e, and show the real reason for their occurrence. 

The Cannon Trial. — Angus M. Cannon was tried before 
Chief Justice Zane late in April, the month following the de- 
livery of the Murphy-Ramsey decision. It being early in the 
year and the jury list unexhausted, the open venire process 
was not resorted to, but jurors, before being accepted, were 
required to answer affirmatively the question : "Are you in 
sympathy with the prosecution?" During the progress of the 
trial the proposition was advanced that sexual intimacy was 
not an essential element of unlawful cohabitation, that offense 
being complete if a man and woman claiming to be husband 
and wife lived at one time in the same house. 

This doctrine had already been hinted at by U. S. Com- 
missioner McKay, when Mr. Cannon was before him for pre- 
liminary examination. The Commissioner, however, had not 
gone quite so far; he held that sexual intimacy was to be pre- 
sumed under such circumstances. But now it was held that 
it was not even necessary to presume it. And upon this theory 
it was proposed to prosecute, and of course to convict, the de- 
fendant in the Cannon case, he having already confessed to 
sitting at table and occupying at times a separate room under 
the same roof that sheltered two of his wives. The change of 
attitude involved in the new construction evoked much com- 
ment, the prosecuting officers, in dealing with other polyg- 
amous defendants, having sought with much earnestness to se- 
cure proof of the kind now declared by them unnecessary. 

Untrodden Ways. — It was plain that the Federal Courts 
were floundering. They scarcely knew what to do — as more 
than one of their officers afterwards admitted, privately. A 
most difficult task had been assigned them — far more difficult 
than at first appeared. It was nothing less than the overthrow 
of "an establishment of religion;" for that conviction, though 
scouted by Congress and the Courts, was still in the heart and 
conscience of the "Mormon" people. Precedents were rare, if 
not entirely lacking, in the whole realm of American jurispru- 
dence ; and guesswork played its part, perhaps as never before, 



UNDER THE HARROW. 399 

in tl\e interpretation of an ambiguous statute. That judges 
and prosecutors theorized, experimented, groped their way, 
and occasionally stumbled on the untried path, or in the tan- 
gled wilderness through which they were hewing a path, ought 
to surprise no one. 

Attorneys' Views. — At the Cannon trial the meaning of 
"unlawful cohabitation" was lengthily discussed. Assistant 
U. S. Attorney Varian argued that Congress, through the Ed- 
munds Act, had intended to strike only at plural marriage, 
leaving fornication, adultery, and other sexual offenses to be 
dealt with under the local laws. Cohabitation, in the sense 
contemplated by Congress, could not exist outside the mar- 
riage relation ; but it was not necessary to prove a marriage 
ceremony in such cases. If a man claimed two or more women 
as his wives, and held them out to the world as such, he was 
guilty of unlawful cohabitation. 

Counsel for the defense, Sutherland, Kirkpatrick, and 
Brown, combatted Mr. Varian's argument, contending that the 
Edmunds Law was designed to prevent polygamous marriages 
and the continuance of polygamous relations, so that no more 
polygamous children might be born. It subjected to punish- 
ment those who cohabited sexually with their plural wives, 
not those who merely visited or supported them, and looked 
after their children. Judge Zane was quoted as having given 
the proper meaning to cohabitation while charging the jury 
in the Clawson case, when he construed it to be "the living 
together of a man and a woman as husband and wife, or under 
such circumstances as induces a reasonable belief of sexual 
intercourse." In another case, that of Orson P. Arnold, the 
Chief Justice had said : "Polygamy is a man's treating more 
than one woman as his wives according to the forms of mar- 
riage, and unlawful cohabitation is a man's treating more than 
one woman as his wives without going through those forms." 
This indicated that the Judge, at that time, was not in harmon}- 
with the view that the Edmunds Law was aimed only at plural 
marriage. 

District Attorney Dickson closed the debate. He main- 
tained that a polygamist would continue in that status if he 
only visited and supported his plural wife. The law, how- 
exer, would not interfere with him if he merely supported her 
and looked after the welfare of her children. A continuance 
of cohabitation was presumable, however, until judicial rec- 
ognition had been given to any separation that might have 
taken place. "It is a matter of history," added Mr. Dickson, 
"that the Mormons do not cohabit together, in the sense used 
by the other side, without a form of marriage; and it was this 
form of marriage, with the practice under it, that Congress 



400 WHITNEY'S POi'ULAR HISTORY Oi^ UTAH. 



legislated against. They knew that sexual sins were not 
u})held in Utah, being condemned by the Mormons and de- 
plored by the Gentiles." 

The Court's Decision, — Judge Zane, reversing his former 
rulings, now maintained that unlawful cohabitation was com- 
l)lete, without sexual intimacy, if a man held out to the world 
more than one woman as his wives. The rest of the trial was 
smooth sailing for the prosecution. The defendant had con- 
fessed enough to convict himself under this ruling of the Court, 
and the jury, charged in accordance therewith, were not long 
in finding a verdict of guilty. 

The Musser Case. — The day following that upon which 
the Cannon trial closed saw the beginning of proceedings in 
the case of the United States versus A. Milton Musser. This 

defendant, who was an assist- 
ant to the Church Historian, 
had been indicted for unlawful 
cohabitation. To each of his 
three wives he had deeded a 
separate home, and had slept 
and taken meals in the house 
occupied by one of them. Noth- 
ing more was established, be- 
yond the fact that he had lived 
with the three women "in the 
habit and repute of marriage." 
He was promptly convicted. 

Arraigned and Sentenced. 

— Elders Cannon and Musser 
were both arraigned for sen- 
tence on the 9th of May. Judge 
Zane gave to each the usual 
alternative of "promising to 
obey," stating that he did not 
wish to humiliate any one, or 
to have it understood that he 
was trying to extort a promise. 
"But," he added, addressing 
Mr. Cannon, "I would love to know that you could conform 
to the law." The defendant replied that when he became a 
citizen of the United States he had no idea that a law would 
be enacted making his religion a crime. He had done his 
utmost to honor his God, his family, and his country, and was 
not conscious of having committed any wrong. He could not 
say what he would do in the future, and was ready to receive 
the sentence of the Court. The Judge imposed the maximum 




A. MILTON MUSSER. 



uni)1<:r I'lii-: marrow. 401 

penalty for unlawful cohabitation — a fine of three hundred dol- 
lars, with six months' imprisonment. 

Mr. Musser, when his turn came, presented a written 
statement which was read to the Court by his attcjrney. asking 
the Judj^e to define what course he should pursue after his 
release from prison, in order that he might be safe from further 
prosecution. The answer was that he must live with but one 
wife — any one of the three — and treat his other wives merely 
as friends.* This the defendant would not agree to do, where- 
upon the Judge said: "Inasmuch as you do not ])ropose to 
submit, you will probably be involved in trouble again. It 
would be better for you and everybody else if that venerable 
man at the head of your Church would just stand up and say, 
T will obey the laws, and teach others to do the same.' If he 
would do that, he would never have to go to the Penitentiary. 
You go there because you will not submit to the laws of your 
countrv." He then pronounced a similar sentence to that 
imposed upon Mr. Cannon. 

Judge Powers Dissents. — The Cannon and Musser cases 
Vicre before the Supreme Court of Utah in June. From a ma- 
jority decision by Judges Zane and Boreman, affirming the 
rulings of the Chief Justice, Judge Powers dissented, wholly 
as to the Musser case, and in part as to the Cannon case. He 
held that Musser had been convicted on the weakest kind of 
c\'idence, and was entitled to a new trial. Powers acquiesced, 
however, in Zane's definition of the term "cohabit." 

Cohabitation Defined. — The Cannon case was taken on a 
writ of error to the Supreme Court of the United States, the 
purpose being to obtain a fixed and reasonable construction 
of the loose and elastic phrase "unlawful cohabitation." Mr. 
Cannon's attorney, Franklin S. Richards, contended that all 
precedents went to show that the term "cohabit" implied 
sexual intercourse. This was freely admitted, but the equally 
frank assertion followed that in order to reach a peculiar con- 
dition in Utah, another view must be taken, and another defini- 
tion found. The decision from Washington came on the 14th 
of December. It sustained the action of the Utah courts, de- 
claring the ofifense of unlawful cohabitation complete, without 
sexual intercourse, when a man flaimted in the face of the 
world "the ostentation and opportunities of a polygamous 
household." It was a majority decree, Justices Miller and 
Field dissenting. The former expressed the opinion that to 
hold men guilty under such circumstances was "a strained 
construction of a highly penal statute." 



*In a subsequent case Judge Zane ruled that the first wife was to 
be given the preference. 



26 



-10-^ W liriNEVS I'Ul'Ul.Ak HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Women Defendants. — Many arrests had been made by 
this time, and numerous prosecutions were pending. For re- 
fusing to answer questions that would criminate the men to 
whom they were married, three plural wives, Lucy Devereau 
Newsom, Elizabeth Starkey White, and Eliza Shaffer Snell, 
all of Salt Lake City, were sent to prison, and kept there, 
two of them, until their husbands requested them to give 
the desired information. At Ogden Mrs. James A. Nelson 
was prosecuted for assaulting a deputy marshal, who, with 
another deputy had tried to enter her home without a search 
warrant. She pushed them from the door and drove them 
out of the yard, belaboring one of the ofificers with a picket 
lorn from her fence. Returning with the required papers, the 
deputies were politely received by Mrs. Nelson and shown 
through her domicile. 

Bishop Brown's Defense. — In the District Court at 
Ogden, on the last day of June, 1885, occurred the trial of 

Francis A. Brown, Ex-Bishop, 
former City Councilor, and one 
of Utah's early educators. 
Sworn as a witness at his own 
request, the defendant ad- 
dressed the Judge and jury, 
stating that he was descended 
from the old Puritan stock of 
New England, his forefathers 
having fought for freedom in 
the War of Independence. He 
had learned in childhood to love 
his country and render strict 
obedience to the laws. For over 
forty years he had been a mem- 
ber of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints, and 
had entered into the practice of 
plural marriage from a religious 
conviction. "I now ask your 
Honor what I am to do," said 
Bishop Brown to Judge Pow- 
ers. "Shall I break the most 
sacred obligations that man can 
enter into? Shall I abandon my wives and children and cast 
them off upon the charities of a cold world? I know not of 
what metal your Honor is composed, but for myself, before I 
will prove recreant to my wives and children and betray my 
trust, I will suffer my head to be severed from my body. 
* * * I stand here innocent of any crime. I have a con- 




FRANCIS A. BROWN. 



UNDER THE HARROW. 403 

science void of offense. * * * j have made up my mind 
that while water runs, or grass grows, or a drop of blood flows 
through my veins, I shall obey the supreme laws of my God in 
preference to the changeable and imperfect laws of man." 

This address, delivered in the midst of a deep silence, much 
in:pressed the Court and spectators. The Salt Lake Tribune, 
commenting upon the incident said: "However much one 
may deplore such wrong-headedness, the admission must be 
made that here is a man, one who does not ciuibble and lie, and 
who scorns to show the white feather." The praise was partly 
intended as a criticism of other defendants who had en- 
deavored in various ways to escape punishment. 

Bishop Brown was convicted on his own testimony, no 
other witnesses being examined. The case was submitted 
without argument, and a verdict of guilty came as a matter 
of course. The defendant received the full penalty of the law. 
On the same day — July 11th — another Ogden man, Moroni 
Brown, was also fined and imprisoned for a similar cause. In 
behalf of his friend and himself, the Bishop said to the Judge : 
'If your Honor will make out our commitments and pay our 
fare, we will find our way to the Penitentiary without the com- 
pany of any of the marshals." The Judge replied that he had 
no power to grant such a request. 

Bishop Sharp's Action. — A number of defendants made 
the required "promise to obey", among them, Bishop John 
Sharp, of the Twentieth Ward, Salt Lake City. A man of 
sterling worth, respected and esteemed by all classes, he had 
1)een for many years one of Utah's leading financiers, and was 
a director of the Union Pacific Railroad. Charged with un- 
lawful cohabitation, his case was pending in the District Court, 
when, on the 18th of September, 1885, he went before 
Chief Justice Zane, pleaded guilty, and presented a written 
statement which was read to the Court by his attorney and 
son-in-law, Mr. P. L. Williams. The defendant represented 
that he and his wives had entered into plural marriage at a 
time when no law existed against such relations, and in em- 
bracing this doctrine of their religion, they had not designedly 
placed themselves in conflict with the laws of the land. The 
Edmunds Act, though harsh, did not, as he understood it, com- 
pel him to disown his wives and children. He had arranged 
his family affairs so as to conform to the law, and was now 
living in harmony with its provisions. Asked as to whether he 
intended to do so in the future, he answered in the affirmative. 

Judge Zane commended the stand taken by Bishop Sharp, 
and expressed the belief that his example would have a good 
effect. He then said : "I am disposed to exercise the discre- 
tion which the law gives me, so as not to impose any im- 



-104 WHITNEY'S I'Ol'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



pris(Miment. I will sinipl}- inii)()sc a tine of three hundred dol- 
lars and costs." The fine was ])aid, and the defendant went 
forth a free man.* 

Bishop Sharp's action was both praised and l)lamed. How 
tl';e Church leaders viewed it. was evidenced by an early re- 
quest for the Bishop's resit^nation — a request presented by the 
Salt Lake Stake Presidency. Nevertheless, the Ex-Bishop 
continued to be held in high regard, and at his funeral, a few 
years later, his old time associates were among the sincerest 
mourners. 

Bishop Clawson's Attitude. — Bishop Hiram B. Clawson, 
of the Twelfth ^^'ard. having been convicted of unlawful co- 
habitation, stood before Judge 
Zane for sentence. Given the 
ustial alternative, he expressed 
a determination to remain true 
to the covenants he had made 
with the mothers of his chil- 
dren. The Court was severe 
with this defendant, imposing 
upon him, not only the heaviest 
penalty allowable, but admin- 
istering along wdth it a caustic 
verbal chastisement. The Bish- 
op had pleaded that his first 
polygamous relations were 
entered into before the enact- 
ment of laws against plural 
marriage. The Judge answered 
that there never was a time 
when polygamy was lawful in 
the United States, nor did he 
believe that it was recognized 
by the laws of Mexico, of which 
lii.siiop CI vwsoN Utah was once a part.t When 

those relations were formed, 
therefore, they were void ; the second wife, in the eye of the 
law, was nothing more than a concubine, and the children born 
of such relations were bastards. The Judge also intimated 
t'lat the defendant was guilty of cowardice for refusing to 




*The first to take this course was Orson P. Arnold, of Salt Lake 
City, whose case has been mentioned briefly (page 399). Subse- 
quently, Mr. Arnold reconsidered his action, revoked his proinise, and 
went to prison. 

tChief Justice Eckels expressed a similar view in 1857-1858, sev- 
eral years before the enactment of the Anti-Bigamy Law. See page 
164, also Note. 



undi<:r the h arrow. 



405 



promise obedience, his refusal being- partly based upon the 
ground that he would suffer social ostracism if he cast off his 
wives and children. 

The "Mormon" press and people hotly resented the com- 
ments of the Court in this case, particularly the epithets ap- 
plied to plural wives and their children. They also criticized 
the Judge for imputing cowardice to a man who preferred 
"prison with honor" to "liberty with dishonor"; that being the 
language in which the defendant had signified his choice. 
It is gratifying to be able to state that judge Zane and Bishop 
Clawson afterwards became better acquainted and were quite 
friendly. 

John Nicholson's Stand. — John Nicholson. t)f the editorial 
staff' of the Deseret News, when arraigned on a similar charge, 
waived his right to plead, and 
was sworn as a witness for the 
prosecution. He took this step 
voluntarily, to save his family 
from being brought into court 
to testify. Nicht)lson stated 
that the Edmunds Act made his 
conduct criminal — malum pro- 
hibitum, though it was not 
malum in se. or wrong in itself. 
He had a large family, who 
were attached to him. as he to 
them, by the tenderest ties, and 
a requirement to discard a por- 
tion of them placed him in a 
very painful position. His 
plural wife, who would have 
been the principal witness had 
he not testified against himself, 
had told him that she would 
decline to say anything that 
would send him to prison. After 
such an exhibition of devotion 
on her part, he could not think 

of cutting her adrift; the bare idea was revolting to him. In 
conclusion the defendant said: "Mv i)urpose is fixed, and I 
hope unalterable. T shall stand by my allegiance to God. fidel- 
ity to my famil}'. and what 1 conceive to be mv duty to the 
Constitution, which guarantees the fullest religious liberty 
to the citizen." 

judge Zane ga\'e Mr. Nicholson credit for candor and sin- 
(■eiit>', Init sentenced bini lo the full limit of tlie law, adding 




lOlIX NICHOLSON. 



406 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



the stern prophecy : "This law will go on and grind you and 
your institutions to powder." 

A Lawyer Prosecuted. — The case of Aurelius Miner had 
some peculiar features. In the first place, being an attorney,, 
the oldest living practitioner in the Utah courts, he conducted 
his own defense, assisted l)v Mr. Moses Kirkpatrick. Judge 

Zane put this question to the 
defendant : "Are you prepared 
to say that you will obey the 
laws of the United States in 
future ?' 

Mr. Miner replied that 
some laws of Congress, after 
being declared constitutional by 
the Court of Last Resort, had 
been pronounced unconstitu- 
tional by the same tribunal, and 
this might be so with the Ed- 
munds Law, which reached into 
the domain of morals, where 
Congress had no right to go. 

Judge Zane. — "Well, Mr. 
Miner, it is not worth while for 
you to question whether this 
law is right or wrong. The Su- 
])reme Court of the United 
States has declared it constitu- 
tional, and it is not for you to 
dispute it. The American peo- 
ple, through their servants in 
Congress, determine what is 
ri^ht and wrong conduct, and after the Supreme Court pro- 
nounces their act valid, that is the end of controversy." 

Mr. Miner. — "That is the end of legal controversy, I ad- 
mit ; but not the end of controversy in the forum of conscience 
or the forum of debate." 

The defendant received the full penalty for unlawful co- 
hal)itation. Then followed proceedings for his disbarment, 
based upon his conviction of a misdemeanor and his attitude 
toward the laws. His conviction, it was claimed, involved 
moral turpitude. Thomas Marshall, in behalf of the Utah Bar 
Association, presented the charges, and he, with Judge Hoge, 
ccmducted the prosecution. During the proceedings Mr. Kirk- 
patrick argued that it was not customary to disbar for sexual 
irregularities, and inquired why cohabitation should be a cause 
for disbarment, when adulterv was not. The answer was that 
cohabitation was "worse than adulterv." The charges were 




TUDGE MINER. 



UNDER TH1<: HARROW. 407 

sustained, and Judge Miner was disqualified for practice in the 
Utah courts. Subsequently, however, he regained his legal 
standing. 

Typical Cases. — The foregoing are a few cases selected 
from many, as typical of the prosecutions of that period. To 
dwell upon all. or even give them passing, mention, would be 
impracticable in a condensed history, and without profit to the 
general reader. Before the crusade ended, nearly a thousand 
persons had suffered imprisonment under the operations of the 
anti-polygamy laws. 

A Disappointing Statute. — And yet the Edmunds Law 
proved a disappointment. The attitude of most of the defend- 
ants impleaded thereunder convinced those who were working 
for the suppression of plural marriage that they had under- 
taken a much harder task than they anticipated. Neither the 
makers nor the ministers of the law had given the men and 
women who practiced this form of marriage sufficient credit 
for sincerity. Imputing to them unworthy motives, they sup- 
posed even light penalties Would induce them to recede from 
their position and sever their peculiar relations. They found 
this to be an error. The Anti-Bigamy Law had always been a 
dead letter, inoperative, ineffectual ; and now the Edmunds 
Act, its original severity enhanced by the extreme interpreta- 
tions put upon it, had failed to accomplish its purpose. More 
legislation must be had, or existing laws must be made more 
effective, if success was to crown the efforts put forth for the 
extirpation of polygamy. So reasoned the prosecutors and the 
judges. 

Heavier Penalties Invoked. — The result was the adoption 
by them of a doctrine and practice whereby the law's heavv 
hand was made much heavier. This time, however, they went 
too far. and were not sustained by the Court of Last Resort, 
which declared their doctrine and practice illegal. 

The opinion that w'cightier penalties were necessary in 
this class of prosecutions had been entertained for some time 
prior to the new departure. Judge Zane. in one of the earlv 
cases that came before him — that of Parlev P. Pratt, Jr., — 
\-irtually expressed regret that the Edmunds Law was not 
mere severe, and as if suiting the action to the word, pro- 
nounced upon the defendant a heavier punishment than the 
law allowed; adding to the usual sentence of imprisonment 
the words "at hard labor". This error was rectified, however, 
as soon as the Court's attention was called to it. But the feel- 
ing back of the original act remained, not onlv with the Chief 
Justice, but with all who were "in sympathy with the prose- 
cution." 

Further Legislation Recommended. — Governor Murray 



^08 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

and the Utah Commission, in their autumn reports for 1885, 
urged the necessity of more stringent legislation against poly- 
gamy and "Mormon" interests in general. A Legislative Com- 
mission, to act in conjunction with the Governor in filling by 
ajipointment all offices then elective by the people, was recom- 
mended. Some of the "Anti-Mormons" favored a disfranchise- 
ment statute, similar to those enacted in Idaho and Arizona. 
lUit Congress was not ready to grant these requests, though it 
resumed, during the following winter, consideration of a bill 
out of which grew an act to dissolve the "Mormon" Church 
as a body corporate, and escheat its property to the Federal 
Government. 

"Segregation". — Meantime the Utah courts adopted an 
expedient that answered the purpose of an additional Act of 
Congress, and threatened at one time to be used with terrible 
effect. The theory was advanced that while the maximum 
legal penalty for unlawful cohabitation was a fine of three 
hundred dollars and imprisonment for six months, there was 
nothing to prevent the period of the ofifense — which might 
be three years under the statute of limitations — from being di- 
\ided into lesser periods, each one to be covered by a separate 
indictment. Hence "Segregation", by which name the new 
doctrine became known. It was introduced into court on the 
16th of September, when the Grand Jury of the Third Judicial 
District came before Chief Justice Zane and recjuested in- 
structions upon a matter previously presented to them by the 
United States Attorney. It had been proposed to "segre- 
gate" a case of unlawful cohabitation which the Grand Jury 
was then considering. Having heard the matter, the Judge 
instructed the jurors that an indictment might be found for 
any portion of time within the three years. 1883. 1884, and 
1885. during which the ofifense was shown to have been com- 
mitted, whether" that portion of time was a year, a month, or 
a week. The U. S. Attorney, however, had only suggested 
the finding of an indictment for each of the three years men- 
tioned. 

Possibilities of the Procedure. — According to the theory 
advanced, a man who acknowledged more than one woman 
as his wives — that being the latest definition of unlawful co- 
habitation — and who continued to acknowledge them for three 
years, might be indicted three times, thirty-six times, or one 
hundred and fifty-six times, according to the will of the Grand 
Jury. And this was pronounced "good law" by some of the 
le^'.ding members of the Utah Bar. But more than one layman 
took issue with the attorneys upon that point. 

The di\'isional jM'ocess suggested in the Third District 
Court left little to be added in the wav of innovation. The 



UNDER THIC HARROW. 



409 



Judge of the First District, however, went a step further. 
While instructing his Grand Jury he remarked that an indict- 
ment might be found against a man guilty of unlawful cohabi- 
tation for every day or other distinct interval of time during 
which he offended. "Each day," said Judge Powers, "that a 
man cohabits with more than one woman, is a distinct viola- 
tion of the law, and he is liable to punishment for each separ- 
ate offense." 

"According to this proposition," said the Deseret News, 
"the obnoxious 'Mormon' could be sentenced to an aggre- 
gated term of five hundred and forty-seven years and six 
months, and cc~imi)elled to i)ay a fine of $328,400. If he hap- 
pened to be impecunious, he could be made to remain in prison 
for ninety-one years and three months longer, in order to 
satisfy the poor convict act." In the same ironical vein it was 
suggested that the prisoner might l)e fortunate enough to shuf- 
fle off his mortal coil before the expiration of the term, and 
that some scheme ought to be devised by which such an escape 
from the rigors of the law could be met. "Why not extend its 
penalties to the other life?" asked the author of the satirical 
article. He went on to suggest that the remaining occupant 
of the Bench (Judge Boreman ) might stand circus fashion 
upon the shoulders of the other two magistrates, and instruct 
his Grand Jury to segregate a 
given time into hours, and in- 
dict accordingly. Referring to 
the absent Church leaders and 
those who found fault with 
them for going into retirement 
instead of "facing the music". 
the same writer said: "Devel- 
opments are constantly occur- 
ring that ought to show the 
dullest mind that the amount of 
consideration or justice they 
would receive at the hands of 
the courts of Utah, could l)c in- 
jected into a person's eye with- 
out causing him to wink." 

The News Editors. — The 
chief editor of the News at that 
time was the veteran journalist, 
Charles W. Penrose, whoso 
keen and ready ])en had ]on<;- 
been a thorn in the side of those 
who were conducting the cru- 
sade. He was one of the men (, ii.\ki.i;s w. picxkusi 




410 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



much sought after by the raiding deputies. In January, 1885, 
he had been sent on a brief mission to the Eastern States, and 
daring his absence his legal wife and family, down to a boy 
of eight years, were summoned before the Grand Jury. His 
wife refused to testify, but the desired evidence was drawn 
forth from the children. While in the States the husband 
and father was appointed to go abroad, and, during the next 
two years, labored in the European Mission, which was then 
in charge of President Daniel H. Wells. Mr. Penrose did 
editorial work upon the "Millennial Star", the Church organ at 
Liverpool, and corresponded with the Deseret News over the 
nom de plume of "Exile". 

In the absence of the Chief Editor, his associate, John 
Nicholson, conducted the paper, serving in that capacity before 
and after his imprisonment, which began October 13, 1885. 
It was Nicholson's caustic pen that satirized, in the manner 
set forth, the doctrine of segregation. 

Unconverted Grand Jurors. — Three members of Judge 
Zane's Grand Jury were not converted to the doctrine. They 
were Newel W. Clayton, Jacob Moritz, and J. W. Davis. 
These gentlemen took the ground that the finding of more 
than one indictment for the same ofiFense was an infringement 
of the Constitution, in that it opened the way for the imposi- 
tion of excessive fines and unusual penalties. They argued 

that since the law of 1862 fixed 
the maximum penalty for poly- 
gamy at a fine of five hundred 
dollars and imprisonment for 
five years, while the Edmunds 
Law made the utmost punish- 
ment for unlawful cohabitation 
a fine of only three hundred dol- 
lars and imprisonment for six 
months ; therefore, to multiply 
indictments against men in the 
manner proposed was to render 
them liable to heavier punish- 
ment for the lesser offense than 
for the greater. Consequently 
they refused to segregate, and 
were sharply reproved by the 
Judge and discharged from the 
Grand Jury. 

The Gowans Case. — The 

first case to be affected by the 

HUGH s. GOWANS. Segregation ruling was that of 




UNDER TllR HARROW. 411 

Hugh S. Gowans, President of Tooele Stake, who was indicted 
bv the Grand Jury of the Third District three times for the 
same offense, and subsequently arraigned in court to plead to 
the triple indictment. The Gowans case, however, was not 
the first of its kind to come to trial ; and when the trial took 
place it was only upon one of the indictments, the others beini;- 
held over for future use. The defendant was convicted and 
sent to prison. 

As to the Motive. — It is scarcely necessary to inform the 
reader that matters were never pushed to the full lengths sug- 
gested by the foregoing utterances from the Utah Bench. It 
would require the extreme of credulity to believe that such a 
course was ever contemplated. A desire to multiply pains and 
penalties, with a view to increasing human suffering, was not 
the mainspring of this extraordinary procedure. Charity 
would demand such a concession even if reason did not. The 
Federal Courts and their officers stood upon higher ground. 
They were determined to end the crusade, and to conquer 
those whom they now looked upon as sincere fanatics rather 
than as obstinate law-breakers. Hamlet's attitude toward the 
Queen Mother — -'T must be cruel in order to be kind" — or 
something like it, was the position of the public prosecutor, 
not a hard-hearted man by nature, and as a rule courteous, 
mild-mannered, and affable. "Segregation" was intended to 
strike terror to the "Mormon" heart, and compel an earlier 
surrender on the part of the Church to what some of its 
members were beginning to feel was the inevitable. 



XXIX. 
SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 

1885-1886. 

An Appeal to the Nation. — Early in 1885 the leading men 
of the "Mormon" community had taken steps to acquaint the 
country with the condition of affairs in Utah, and obtain, if 
possible, some relief from the terrible strain the Territory was 
under, owing to the operations of "The Crusade". It was 
hoped that the Nation, which had just returned the Democracy 
to power — for the first time in twenty-eight years— would not 
turn a deaf ear to an appeal from American citizens who felt 
themselves trampled upon and robbed of their rights. The 
majority in Utah were Democrats by tradition, and it was 
believed that the national party leaders would not, when fully 
informed, sanction the course pursued by radical Republican 
office-holders in this then unhappy commonwealth. 

Epistle from the First Presidency. — The idea of such an 
appeal came from the First Presidency, in an epistle read at 
the Annual Conference, which convened that year at Logan. 
on the 5th of April. It was the first public communication 
from the heads of the Church after they went into retirement, 
and was signed by John Taylor and George Q. Cannon ; their 
associate, Joseph F. Smith, being then in a foreign land.* In- 
cidentally the fact was mentioned by the Presidency that the 
men who practiced plural marriage constituted only a very 
small percentage of the membership of the Church, and it was 
pointedly asked wdiy a whole community should be terrorized 
and injured for the alleged shortcomings of a few. 

The Conference, after hearing the epistle, appointed a 
committee to draft an address to the Nation. That commit- 
tee, twenty-two in number, were authorized not only to pre- 
pare the address, but to call mass meetings in different parts of 
the Territory where it might 1)e read to and adopted by the 
citizens. The mass meetings were held on the 2nd of May, the 
principal one in the Tabernacle at Salt Lake City, where ten 
tliousand people listened to the reading of the "Declaration of 
Grievances and Protest" prepared by the Conference Commit- 
tee, and to speeches in supi)ort of what it contained. 



*From Oct()l)er, 1884, to September, 1891, President Smith was 
not seen pul)licly in Utah. He spent a considerable portion of that 
period in tlie Hawaiian Islands, and was afterwards in the Eastern 
States, exertint;- an influence for the welfare of his people. 



SKXSA'noNAI. I'J'ISODI^S. 413 

Declaration and Protest, — The document bearing- that 
title was addressed "To the President and People of the United 
States." It called attention to the situation in Utah, Idaho, 
and Arizona, "a condition of affairs imperiling the liberties of 
every freeman"; and made reference to plural marriage as "a 
vital principle of the 'Mormon' religion" — a fact conceded by 
the Utah Commission in its report to the Secretary of the In- 
terior. November, 1884. The further fact was presented that 
plural marriage was not introduced in violation of law, but 
the law was enacted against this principle of religion. 

The Declaration affirmed that the authorities at Wash- 
ington had disregarded the rights of the citizens of Utah in the 
matter of local self-government, refusing them Statehood, 
compelling them to accept Territorial or colonial conditions, 
discriminating against them in various ways, and sending 
strangers to them as governors, judges, prosecuting attorneys 
and marshals, men who with honorable exceptions had no 
interest in the common welfare, and had haughtily ignored the 
rights and trampled upon the liberties of the people. 

The Commissioners appointed under the Edmunds Law 
were criticized for usurping "extraordinarv, illegal and arbi- 
trary powers". While their sole duty under the law was to 
appointed registration and election officers and to canvas the 
returns and issue certificates of election to members of the 
Legislative Assembly, they had illegally assumed to exercise 
important legislative and judicial functions. In the appoint- 
ment of registration officers, they had selected for such posi- 
tions, whenever possible, only such persons as belonged to the 
"Anti-Mormon" faction, denying to the majority party, whose 
members comprised four-fifths of the population of the Terri- 
tory, representation among the registrars. In the appointment 
of judges of election they had either refused the majority party 
any representative at all, or had only given it one of the three 
judges in each precinct. 

Complaint was made against the injustice of United States 
officials sent to execute the laws. They had generally allied 
themselves with sectarian priests and political adventurers; 
lending their executive or judicial influence to foment local ex- 
citement, and degrade the citizens of Utah in the estimation of 
people abroad. The Governors of the Territory, possessing 
absolute veto power, had usually been desjiotic in their min- 
isterial acts. 

The present Governor especially had "acted the part of a 
petty tyrant." In his official messages and reports, in his con- 
tributions to the press, and in his public addresses, he had con- 
stantly misrepresented the state of affairs in Utah, and seized 
upon every opportunity to arouse popular prejudice and hatred 



4H VV H ITN li Y 'S I '() 1 ' U 1 .A K 11 1 STU R Y O F UTAH. 

against her people. The Edmunds Act contemplated the dis: 
continuance of the Utah Commission as soon as the Legislat- 
ure should provide for filling" the registration and election of- 
fices under local laws ; yet when a bill was submitted to the 
Governor providing for this change, in full conformity with 
the Edmunds Law and other acts of Congress, he vetoed the 
measure and continued the Commissioners in office. The pre- 
ceding Legislature had passed a bill, drawn up in accordance 
with the Governor's suggestions, apportioning the representa- 
tion of the Territory, but when it was presented to him for 
his signature, he treated it with contemptous silence. 

The Edmunds Law, which not only provided for the 
punishment of polygamy, but also cohabitation with more than 
one woman, whether in the marriage relation or outside of it, 
was made to operate upon one class of people only — the "Mor- 
mons." The paramour of mistresses and harlots, secure from 
prosecution, walked the streets in open day. No United States 
official put a "spotter" on his trail, or made an efifort to drag 
his deeds of shame and guilt before a judge and jury for in- 
vestigation and punishment. But in Utah, Idaho and Arizona, 
a concerted .attack was made upon the "Mormon" people. 

After a further citation of acts already summarized in 
the previous chapter, the document went on to say: "In 
consequence of this crusade, which bears all the aspects 
of a religious persecution, business relations are disturbed, 
values of every kind unsettled, neighborhoods agitated 
and alarmed, and property of the people generally jeopardized. 
It not only affects alleged violaters of the law, but those who 
are innocent of transgressing it. It works a hardship upon the 
entire community, upon the innocent as well as the guilty. The 
overwhelming majority of the 'Mormon' people are monogam- 
ists, and but a small percentage are even suspected of violat- 
ing the law. In the name of this great majority we pray that 
this unusual, cruel, and partial administration of the law shall 
cease. If the 'conscience of the people' demands that the law 
be enforced, let it be enforced in all the Territories and in the 
District of Columbia, as well as in Utah — upon Jews and Gen- 
tiles as well as upon the 'Mormons.' " 

So far the Declaration. Then followed the Protest, sum- 
ming up the points set forth, and ending with this appeal : 
'"AVe respectfully ask for the appointment, by the President, 
of a Commission to fairly and thoroughly investigate the Utah 
situation ; and pending its report, we solemnly protest against 
the continuance of this merciless crusade." 

The Tabernacle Mass Meeting. — The proceedings at the 
Tabernacle evoked a tremendous demonstration. Nearly every 
sentence read or spoken was punctuated with applause. More 



SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 415 

than once the voice of the reader was drowned in the tumult, 
and he was oblis^ed to pause until the tempest of sound had 
subsided. The reading closed amid a whirlwind of cheers and 
hand-clappings that continued for several minutes. 

One regrettable incident connected itself with the meet- 
ing, and it was entirely outside the program. United States 
Attorney Dickson, his assistant, Mr. Varian, and Commis- 
sioner McKay were present in the Tabernacle, and were hissed 
by a portion of the audience as they arose to depart just before 
the close of the proceedings. The unseemly demonstration 
was promptly checked by the chairman, Honorable John T. 
Caine. 

President Cleveland's Promise, — The Declaration and Pro- 
test, having been adopted, was carried to Washington by Dele- 
gate Caine and two others of the committee. They were court- 
eously received at the White House, where President Cleve- 
land, after listening attentively to their statement of the object 
of the visit, and receiving from their hands the document of 
which they were the bearers, said : "Well, gentlemen, so far 
as the Edmunds Law is concerned, I had nothing to do with 
that, though of course it is my duty to see it enforced, as well 
as all other laws. You are entitled to fair consideration, how- 
ever, and in any appointments made by me I shall endeavor to 
give you men of a character who will see that the law is im- 
partially administered." His face broke into a smile as he 
added: "I wish you, out there, could be like the rest of us." 

"All we ask," said Delegate Caine, "is that the law shall 
be fairly and impartially administered." 

"You are entitled to that," replied the President, "and 
so far as I am concerned I shall see that it is done." 

The Half-Masting Episode. — During the following sum- 
mer another attempt was made to call the Nation's attention 
to the distressful situation in this Territory. The method em- 
ployed was effectual, but many people, "Mormons" as well as 
"Gentiles", deemed it improper and unwise. While the motive 
was not unpatriotic, the act was construed as a demonstra- 
tion of ill will to the Government. 

Early on the morning of the Fourth of July a number of 
the flags hoisted at Salt Lake City in honor of the da^^ were 
observed to be flying at half-mast ; among them the flags at 
the City Hall, the County Court House, and Zion's Co-oper- 
ative Mercantile Institution. From these tokens, significant of 
public mourning, it was at first supposed that General Grant 
v/as dead; his spirit at that time being about to take flight. 
But this impression was soon dispelled, since the Stars and 
Stripes upon other buildings and at Fort Douglas were at full 
mast, and no bulletin announced the death of the Nation's 



416 \M^ITNEY'S I'ol'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAIF. 

hero. Some drew the inference that the "Mormon" President 
had ])assed away ; l)ut inquiry revealed the fact that this sup- 
position was also unfounded. Gradually the truth dawned 
upon the i)ublic mind. The starry banner had been hung mid- 
way as a sign of sorrow, but not for any individual. It meant 
that certain citizens took the view that TJberty was in chains 
so far as Utah was concerned, and that it was a time to grieve 
rather than jubilate. 

Division of Sentiment. — As intimated, the general senti- 
ment was much divided, even among the "Mormons". Many 
regarded the act as appropriate and timely, while others, fore- 
seeing the use that would be made of it, were almost as much 
offended as the "Gentiles". The latter w^ere also mixed in their 
o])inions ; those of radical tendencies jumping to the conclu- 
sion that it was a treasonal)le demonstration, and the con- 
servative element suspending judgment until an investigation 
could be made. 

A committee headed by United States Marshal Ireland 
and Major Edmund Wilkes proceeded to the City Hall and in- 
quired for Mayor James Sharp. The Mayor not being in his 
office, they interviewed City Marshal AVilliam G. Phillips, who 
informed them that he had caused the flag to be half-masted on 
the liberty pole in front of the Hall. Describing how most of 
the citizens felt over the imprisonment or exile of their lead- 
ing men, the breaking up of families, and the general terroriza- 
tion, he assigned these as the reasons wdiy the flag had been 
so placed. 

Marshal Phillips' explanation seemed to satisfy the com- 
mittee that no indignity had been intended, but they requested, 
in the interest of peace, that the City Hall flag be lowered 
or run up to the staff-head. One of their number. Captain 
Evans, a former U. S. deputy marshal, remarked that it made 
him as angry to see the Stars and Stripes half raised at such 
a time, as when Fort Sumter was fired on. Major Wilkes, 
who had been a Confederate officer, could not of course echo 
that particular sentiment, but he joined in the Committee's 
request, wdiich was subsequently honored by Mayor Sharp. 
Similar action w^as taken at the County Court House, and later 
at other buildings. 

Early in the day, during a G. A. R. celebration at Lind- 
sav's Gardens, a pleasure resort in the northeastern suburb, 
indignant speeches were made by "Gentile" and "Mormon" 
orators, and resolutions passed protesting against the alleged 
"insult to the flag." In the afternoon a crowd marched up 
Main Street, loudly voicing its determination to raise the flag 
on "The Co-op" (Z. C. M. T.). wdiich building, closed and 



SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 



417 



locked for the day, was in charge of the watchman, Hamilton 
G. Park. He had not placed the flag, but was resolved to 
permit no trespass upon the property. He warned the crowd 
that they would break into the store at their peril, and held 
them at bay until the arrival of two Z. C. M. I. directors, by 
whose order the desired change was made. Governor Murray 
applied to General McCook for military aid to compel the rais- 
ing of all the flags, public and private, but the Fort Douglas 
commander declined to interfere. 

The "Anti-Mormons" made effective use of the half-mast- 
ing episode. The Associated Press agent telegraphed abroad his 
version of the affair, and succeeded in stirring up quite a com- 
motion in some of the Eastern cities. "Let us hear no more 
of Mormon love for the Stars and Stripes," said the Salt Lake 
Tribune. The Deseret News denounced "the attempt to con- 
strue the incident into an insult to the Government," as "su- 
premely absurd, as well as heartless and atrocious." Referring 
to the assassination of President Garfield, and the general half- 
masting at the time of that tragedy, the Church organ said : 
"A man who would have accused the country of insulting the 
flag because it was then placed in a drooping position, would 
have been treated as an idiot. The people of Utah joined in 
that universal grief. They are now sorrowful over the deca- 
dence of their liberties." The City Council, after a thorough 
investigation, published an offi- 
cial statement to the effect that 
nothing disrespectful to the 
Nation had been intended. 

Excitement at Ogden. — llie 
excitement at the capital on In- 
dependence Day was duplicated 
on a smaller scale at Ogden, 
though the cause was not the 
same. At a joint celebration, 
in which representative "Mor- 
mons" and "Gentiles" took part, 
after an oration by Judge Pow- 
ers. Moses Thatcher was in- 
vited to speak. Accepting the 
invitation, the Apostle por- 
trayed the unhappy situation in 
Utah, and criticized those who 
had brought about the enact- 
ment of the Edmunds Law. As 
a parallel he cited certain me- 
morials to Congress advocating '^^ 
laws to prohibit Sabbath break 

26 




MOSES THATCHER. 



418 W111TNJ-:VS I'ol'ULAK lllS'loRV OF UTAH. 

ing, memorials referred to in a pu1)lished report In- llonnrable 
R. M. Johnson, of Kentuck}-. The report said : "The State 
has no more power to enforce the observance of Sunday upon 
moral and religious grounds, than it has to compel the citizen 
to be baptized, or to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper." "It is not for the Legislature to determine what is 
or what is not God's law. In this matter it can go no further 
than to protect all citizens, of whatever faith, in the peaceful 
exercise of their rights, leaving each to interpret God's law for 
himself, * * * without being amenable to any authority 
in the State for either his conduct or his conclusions, so long 
as neither leads him to interfere with his fellow man in the 
exercise of like rights." These words, applied to local condi- 
tions and driven home with fervid eloquence, went straight to 
the hearts of most of Mr. Thatcher's hearers, and met their 
entire approval. Very different, however, was the effect upon 
the minority, who were highly incensed at the Apostle's 
speech. 

Much Ado About Nothing. — A rumor now became current 
that the "Mormons" intended to half-mast the Stars and 
Stripes on Pioneer Day, when a mammoth Sunday School 
jubilee was to be held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Efforts 
were made to convince the troops of the regular armv sta- 
tioned in the West, and the members of the various G. A. R. 
organizations in the surrounding States and Territories, that 
their presence at the Utah capital would he desirable on July 
24th in order to prevent another insult to the Emblem of 
Liberty. So successful was this fiction that General Howard, 
at Omaha, in a telegram to President Cleveland, expressed the 
fear of a general "Mormon" uprising, and was ordered by the 
Chief Magistrate "to keep all posts of the Western Platte De- 
partment in full strength and prepared for any emergency that 
may arise in Utah in the near future." 

Again at Half-Mast. — Preparations for the Sunday School 
Jubilee went steadily forward, and the time for the peaceful 
celebration drew near. There had been no intention to half- 
mast the flag on that occasion, but as fate would have it, just 
one day l^efore the proposed observance General Grant died, 
and the whole country bowed above the great soldier's bier. 
Evervwhere the Stars and Stripes were half-masted in token 
of the general sorrow. Governor Murray, in a proclamation, 
recommended "that flags, draped in mourning, be placed on all 
public buildings, and as far as practicable on business houses 
and on the houses of the people." He did not advise any half- 
masting; but the reason was obvious, and the omission did not 
affect the result. The Jubilee was abandoned, and the mem- 



SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 



419 



cry of the departed chieftain duly honored by all the people of 
Utah. 

Lorenzo Snow's Arrest. — The next sensation was the ar- 
rest of Lorenzo Snow, one of the senior Apostles of the Church. 
In common with most of his associates, this venerable man had 
i^one into exile at the beginning of the reigning troubles, lie 
traveled for a season among the Indian tribes of the North- 
west, and spent some time in California. Returning to his 
home in Brigham City about the middle of November, 1885, 
he remained there until the 20th of that month, when he was 
suddenly pounced upon and made a prisoner. 

Tactics of the Raiders. — The Apostle's arrest was accom- 
plished by seven deputy marshals, who rode from Ogden be- 
tween midnight and daybreak and surrounded the house in 
which the object of their quest lay sleeping. It was the resi- 
dence of Mrs. Minnie J. Snow. Deputy Marshal Oscar C. 
Vandercook headed the party, which included Captain J. W. 
dreenman, also of Salt Lake City, and several officers from 
Weber County. Having invested the premises, they knocked 
at the kitchen door. Day was just breaking, and only the 
servant girl was awake. "Who's there?" she demanded. "Is 
Brother Snow in?" asked a voice. Instead of answering it, the 
girl awoke Mrs. Snow, who 
from the windows of her bed- 
room took in the situation at a 
glance. Surrounding the housf, 
the dark forms of men weri' 
dimly discernible in the gre\ 
light of morning, while t\\" 
carriages with steaming horsr- 
stood at the front gate. Tlic 
purpose of the untimely vi^it 
was apparent. After more par 
leying, Mrs. Snow admitted tlu' 
officers, who presented a search 
warrant, and proceeded to ex- 
plore the house from cellar to 
garret. They were finally suc- 
cessful, and in response to their 
summons the master of the 
house came forth and surren- 
dered himself. 

The peaceful town was 
thrown into a fever of excite- 
ment when it was learned what 
had taken place. Friends in 
large numbers gathered at the 




LORENZO SNOW. 



420 WHITNEY'S i'OPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Snow residence to express sympathy and offer protection. 
Declining the proffered interference, the aged prisoner entered 
the carriage with the officers, and was driven southward. At 
Ogden he was arraigned before United States Commissioner 
Black, and held in bonds of eighteen hundred dollars to await 
the action of the Grand Jury. 

A Deputy Marshal in the Toils. — The sensation caused by 
this capture was less than two days old when another incident 
equally stirring took place. It was the arrest of one of the 
deputies who had figured prominently in the Brigham City 
raid. Returning from the North, he was alighting from the 
train at Salt Lake City, when two policemen took him into 
custody. The warrant upon which he was held had been 
issued from the Police Court, upon a complaint filed by the 
City License Collector, charging the Deputy Marshal with lewd 
and lascivious conduct, in violation of the local statutes. 

Not only was general interest awakened ; in some quarters 
absolute consternation reigned, caused by a report that the 
police were in possession of a long list of names whose owners 
v/ere liable to be called to account for practices similar to 
those charged against the defendant in this action. Upon 
whose shoulder the official hand would next fall was uncer- 
tain, and suspense added misery to the fears of the self-con- 
victed. But only four persons were arrested. 

Nolle Prosequi. — Proceedings in habeas corpus, followed 
by an appeal to the United States Supreme Court, suspended 
proceedings against the Deputy Marshal. The other defend- 
ants, convicted in the Police Court, were each fined three hun- 
dred dollars and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. 
They appealed to the District Court, and there the whole 
movement received its quietus. It was shown, not that the ac- 
cused were innocent, but that lewd women had been employed 
to tempt them and lead them astray. The Assistant U. S. 
A-ttorney. who was in charge of the cases, moved to dismiss 
them, and the motion was granted ; the Supreme Court of the 
Territory affirming the judgment. Peace reigned once more 
in many anxious households, and the hapless License Col- 
lector, convicted of conspiracy, was sentenced to a year's im- 
prisonment in the County Jail. 

The Collin-McMurrin Encounter. — A personal encount- 
er l)etween Henry F. Collin, a "Gentile" deputy marshal, and 
loFeph W. McMurrin, a "Mormon' nightwatchman, furn- 
ished material for more excitement during that eff'ervescent 
year. The encounter took place in an alley running east and 
west immediately north of the historic Social Hall. The time 
Avas aliout seven p. m., on Saturday, the 28th of Novem- 
ber. According to McMurrin's deposition, he and Collin, 



SENSATIONAL K1MS()UI':S. 



421 




who had exchanged hot words 
on a former occasion, met in 
the alley. McMurrin struck at 
Collin, whereupon the latter, 
thrusting a pistol against his 
assailant's body, fired twice and 
fled. McMurrin returned the 
fire, but being badly wounded, 
two balls having passed 
through his abdomen, his shot 
was ineffective. Staggering in- 
to State Street, he made known 
his condition to a passer]:)y, 
who informed the police. The 
wounded man was taken to the 
City Hall, and believing him- 
self to be dying, he dictated a 
statement in accordance with 
the foregoing account. 

Meantine Collin, after a 
hurried run to his home in 
Social Hall Alley, had placed 
himself under the protection of 
U. S. Marshal Ireland, and was conveyed to the Penitentiary 
for safe keeping. He declared that four men, armed with 
clubs, had attacked him, and that he had shot one of them, 
the others running away. Rumors of a threatened attack 
upon the Penitentiary caused General McCook to detail an 
armed squad to conduct Collin to Fort Douglas. The com- 
mander was persuaded that the post itself was in danger, and 
every precaution was taken to guard against an assault. 

Groundless Rumors.— The rumors were entirely unfound- 
ed. There was no hostile demonstration whatever. The public 
mind had been severely shocked, but excitement was sub- 
dued by a general feeling of sorrow over the impending fate of 
young McMurrin, who was much esteemed. The usual Sab- 
bath services were held, and many fervent prayers ascended 
for his recovery; but there were no incendiary gatherings or 
speeches, and no attack upon the Penitentiary or the Fort was 
dreamed of, except by those whose credulity had been imposed 
upon by the extravagant reports set in circulation. Never- 
theless the wires were kept warm describing an alleged 
arming and uprising of the "Mormons"; sensational telegrams 
were sent to the seat of Government, and President Cleveland 



JOSEPH W. MCMURRIN. 



422 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

was advised to place Utah under martial law. He telegraphed 
to General McCook, requesting investigation of the reports, 
and immediate information as to their truth or falsity. The 
General informed the President that the fear of an uprising 
was groundless, but suggested an increase in the standing force 
a*: Fort Douglas. 

Battery "D" — A Provost Guard. — In accordance with 
General McCook's recommendation. Battery D of the Fifth 
^Vrtillery, U. S. A., was forwarded from Omaha, arriving 
at Salt Lake Cit}^ early in December. There were sixty-five 
men, four rifled steel guns with caissons, and a sufficient num- 
ber of horses to complete the equipment. As they filed up 
South Temple Street on their way to the Fort, they surveyed 
with wide-eyed wonder the peaceful streets and calm demeanor 
of the populace. One of the soldiers, an Irishman, was heard 
to inquire: "Whaire is the ininiv intrinched?" A volume 
could tell no more concerning the character of the reports that 
hpd deceived the country.* 

The arrival of Battery D made necessary the finding of 
other quarters for some of the soldiers already at the garrison. 
At all events this was assigned as the reason for sending 
Captain Charles G. Pinney, with forty-five men, to occupy 
quarters and act as a provost guard within the city. They 
were stationed just west of the old Herald Corner, on First 
South Street, one block west of Main. 

The rumors, of an impending outbreak were investigated 
by the City authorities, and shown to be utterly without foun- 
dation. A copy of these findings was sent to Delegate Caine 
at Washington, and by him laid before President Cleveland. 

Close of the Incident. — Two months later an examination 
m the McMurrin-Collin case was held before U. S. Commis- 
sioner McKay. McMurrin was not present. Collin's version 
of Avhat happened at the time of the encounter in the alley. 
was accepted by the Commissioner as the true statement, and 
the deputy was discharged. McMurrin's wounds had been 
pronounced fatal, but to the surprise of everyone he recovered. 
Leaving Utah, he spent four years in Europe, and then re- 
turned and offered himself for trial. Diliijent search for an 



*An Eastern mercantile firm, influenced by the warlike news from 
Utah, communicated with Z. C. M. I., offering a large lot of swords, 
guns, saddles, and other military trappings, at a great discount. The 
proffered bargain was declined, with the statement that there was 
no sale for such articles in this Territory, and Z. C. M. I. did not 
care to lumber up its shelves with dead stock. 



SENSATIONAL EPJSOUF.S. 



423 



indictment against him failed to disco\'er one, and no further 
action was taken.* 

Trial of Lorenzo Snow. — The trial of Lorenzo Snow, who 
liad been indicted for unlawful cohabitation, began on the 30th 
of December, about six weeks after his arrest at Rrighani 
City. The trial took place in the District Court at Ogden. 
History, in order to be accurate, should say, "trials", since 
there were three in which the Apostle figured as party de- 
fendant. His case had been segregated by the Grand Jury, and 
each of the three years, 1885, 1884, and 1883. was covered by a 
separate indictment. The indictment for 1885 charged that the 
defendant had lived during that year with seven wives, and 
upon this presentment he was 
first arraigned. 

The Federal Court room in 
the Junction City had never 
held a more interested audience 
than thronged it on that occa- 
sion. Judge Powers presided ; 
Assistant U. S. Attorney Vic- 
tor Bierbower conducted the 
prosecution; and the defense 
was represented by Franklin S. 
Richards. Bennett, Harkness, 
and Kirkpatrick, R. K. Wil- 
liams, Charles C. Richards and 
Henry H. Rolapp. The jury 
were all "Gentiles." 

Defendants' Wives on the 
Witness Stand. — Prior to the 
examination of witnesses, the 
defendant stated by counsel 
that in order to save time he 
would admit the relationship 
of husband and wife between himself and each of the women 
named in the indictment. Harriet, Mary. Eleanor, and Sarah 
Snow then testified in turn that they were the defendant's 
v.-^ives," but that he had not lived with them during the vear 




TUDGE POWERS. 



*Mr. C. S. Varian, who was Prosecuting Attornej- at the time, 
claims that there was an indictment in the case, but that he had it 
dismissed at the request of Mr. McMurrin and his friends. McMur- 
rin's statement differs from this. He affirms that after his return 
from Europe, he with his brother-in-law. Royal R. Young, went to 
see the Prosecuting Attorney about the matter, and that I\'Ir. Varian 
made careful search for an indictment, but could Tind none, and dis- 
missed his visitor with the remark tliat he would be sent for when 
w.Tntcd. 'McATnrrin was not scnl for. and notliing furtlicr developed. 



424 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

1885. He had supported them and their children, and had made 
brief calls upon them, but had not slept, eaten, nor lived in 
their homes. Minnie J. Snow testified that the defendant had 
lived with her continuously since her marriage. According- 
to other witnesses, he had sat with his wife Sarah at a play, 
had ridden in a carriage with her and with Minnie, and had in- 
troduced Harriet and Sarah as his wives in the Grand Jury 
room at Ogden. It was shown that he had transferred to 
each wife her own home, and that it was common repute in 
Brigham City that for several years he had lived with Imt one 
wife. , 

Plea of the Prosecution. — Mr. Bierbower, in addressing 
the jury, declared that the defendant had broken the law even 
by recognizing and visiting his plural wives. Referring to the 
prominence of Lorenzo Snow, he contended that this Apostle 
stood before the Court in a representative as well as an individ- 
ual capacity. "One word from his eloquent tongue, or 
one line from his caustic pen, would go further towards set- 
tling this vexed question than any dozen men in the 'Mormon' 
Church." "I verily believe," said Bierbower, "that the example 
of his conviction will be more potential for good than would 
the conviction of three score of the Elders, Deacons, and 
Bishops." 

This kind of pleading had become quite common in the 
Courts of Utah. Judge McKean seems to have set the pace 
when he declared that "a system" was "on trial in the person 
of Brigham Young". For a similar remark at the trial of John 
H. Miles. Assistant U. S. Attorney Beatty had been promptly 
reproved by Judge Tilford, of counsel for the defense. As a 
matter of fact, the whole anti-polygamy crusade was conducted 
in this spirit. It was the "Mormon" Church, rather than anv 
individual, that was the real object of attack. 

Argument for the Defense. — The counsel for Lorenzo 
Snow characterized the plea put forth by Mr. Bierbower as a 
virtual request to the jury to convict the defendant for being 
a "Mormon" Apostle. They maintained that Lorenzo Snow 
stood before the court precisely as any other party charged 
with a criminal ofifense. To show that he was a "Mormon" 
v;as not enough; he must be proved guilty of the ofifense 
charged, that of living and cohabiting during 1885 with all the 
women named in the indictment. This had not been shown.. 
The defendant's admission that these women were his wives, 
under a compact considered by him and them indissoluble, was 
not proof of cohabitation, nor were his brief, casual, day-time 
visits to their homes. Even if he had introduced two of them 
as his wives in Weber County, that was not Box Elder County, 
the place named in the indictment. There was not a scintilla 



SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 425 

of evidence that he had lived or cohabited with them. The 
habit as well as the repute of marriag-e nuist be shown, in order 
to convict him. 

Further Proceedings. — The Judge, in charging the jury, 
stated that if they found the defendant had held out to the 
world two or more women as his wives during 1885, they were 
to bring in a verdict of guilty. Such a verdict was rendered 
the same evening. 

The second trial, based upon the indictment for 1884, oc- 
curred on the 4th and 5th of January, 1886. It was practically 
a repetition of the first trial, with some original features. A 
plea by the defense that the former conviction should Ijar 
further prosecution, was demurred to by Mr. Bierbower, and 
the court sustained the demurrer. Except for a statement by 
one of the witnesses, Henry E. Bowring, that Adeline Snow 
was reputed to be the first wife of Lorenzo Snow, the testi- 
mony was much the same as that given on the former oc- 
casion. At the first trial the defendant had been convicted for 
holding out to the world more than one woman as his wives, 
regardless of marital intimacy. Now he was convicted because 
of his admitted intimacy with Minnie, and the reputed fact that 
his legal wife was Adeline; intimacy with her being presumed. 

Immediately after the close of the second trial, a jury was 
empaneled from tlie spectators present, and the defendant, who 
had assented to this arrangement, was tried at once on the in- 
dictment for 1883. The testimony and verdict were identical 
with those previously given. 

A Triple Sentence.^ — Judge Powers sentenced the defend- 
ant on the 16th of January; first, however, permitting him to 
address the court in his own behalf. The Apostle affirmed his 
belief in the principle of plural marriage, and his reverence for 
the laws of his country. Asserting his innocence, he declared 
that he had been convicted without evidence, and declined to 
make any statement as to what he would do in the future. 
Three separate sentences were then pronounced upon him. 
each imposing a fine of three hundred dollars, and imprison- 
ment for a period of six months. Pending his a])peal, he con- 
tinued on bail in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. 

The Legal Wife. — In February the Supreme Court of the 
Territory rendered a decision in the case for 1885, Chief Justice 
Zane voicing the decree. He held that Sarah, not Adeline. 
\vas the legal wife of Lorenzo Snow, since Adeline was un- 
derstood to be one of two women married to him at the same 
time; Charlotte, the other woman, being dead. This double 
marriage was illegal, and consequently void. Sarah, the next 
woman married to him, was therefore the legal wife. Intimacv 



^26 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

with her was presumed, and intimacy with Minnie was not 
denied. The decision affirmed that of the court below. 

The cases for 1884 and 1883 were passed upon a week 
later. In the first of these, Judge Boreman who was spokes- 
man, took issue with the Chief Justice as to who was the legal 
wife of the defendant. There was no evidence, he said, that 
Adeline and Charlotte were married at the same time, and 
Boreman therefore agreed with Powers that Adeline must be 
regarded as the legal wife. Upon the most important point 
of all — segregation — Boreman cited a Massachusetts opinion, 
in which it had been held that a conviction for maintaining a 
tenement for the illegal sale of intoxicating liquors was not a 
bar to an indictment found for maintaining the same tenement 
on the last day named in the first indictment and on other days 
succeeding. This case, the Judge thought, furnished a parallel 
to the present proceedings. The District Court was sustained. 

In the remaining case Judge Powers spoke for the Court, 
affirming, or helping to affirm, his own decision; an incident 
exhibiting in a strong light the inconsistency of allowing but 
three Federal judges to a Territory; an inconsistency about 
to be done away with in Utah by the appointment of a fourth 
magistrate for the Supreme Bench. 

Carried to Washington. — The questions involved in the 
Snow case were of sufficient importance to warrant an appeal 
to the highest tribunal in the land. Chief Justice Zane granted 
a writ of error for that purpose, and the case was carried to 
Washington. In order to furnish sufficient reason for its ad- 
vancement upon the calendar, the defendant surrendered him- 
self a prisoner to the United States Marshal, and on the 12th of 
March was taken to the Penitentiary. 

The Old Utah "Pen."— The Utah Penitentiary at that 
time was little more than a corral, a rectangular mud-wall en- 
closure, containing several acres of ground and two or three 
small houses, one of which, a low log structure, served the 
double purpose of dining room and meeting hall, while an- 
other, a stone building, was used as a dormitory. The beds 
were arranged along the sides, one above another. The pris- 
oners were locked in at night, and let out in the morning. 
They might wander at will over the ample space within the 
walls, but must not pass without permission "the dead line." 
near a pair of heavy wooden and iron gates, the only means 
of egress from the yard. Armed guards patrolled the walls 
and looked down from sentry boxes at the corners of the en- 
closure. An iron cage called "the sweat box," in which re- 
fractory convicts were placed, stood in one corner. The 
Warden's. house, where female prisoners were kept, was out- 
side the gates and virtually a part of the high mud wall, and 



si'.xsA ri( ).\'.\i, i-:iMS( )i)i':s. 



427 




THE OLD UTAH PEN. 



the same was true of the kitchen and stor'e rooms. One of 
these was also a reception room, where the inmates might re- 
ceive visitors on certain days. 

The male convict, on entering the Penitentiary, was 
clothed in the usual zebraic costume (white and black stripes), 
and unless health conditions demanded a deviation from the 
rule, his hair was close cropped and his face clean shaven. It 
was customary with the prisoners to make merry at the ex- 
pense of each new arrival, who was given his choice whether to 
sing a song,. dance a jig, or be thrown up in a blanket. Some- 
times a rope was tied around him and a mock hanging indulged 
in. These hazings, however, were discontinued, by order of 
the United States Marshal. No indignity was put upon Elder 
Snow, and he was permitted to wear his full flowing beard all 
the while he was in prison. 

George Q. Cannon Taken — Efiforts continued to be ex- 
erted for the discovery and arrest of the "Mormon" leaders, 
and finally the man most wanted by the officers fell into their 
power. That man was George Q. Cannon, Ex-Delegate t<> 
Congress and First Counselor to the President of the "Mor- 
mon" Church. Because of his great influence, it was supposed 
that his conviction and imprisonment would go far toward in- 
ducing a surrender on the part of the entire communitv. For 
information leading to his capture, the United States Marshal 
had ofTcrcd a reward of five hundred dollars. The date of his 



428 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

arrest was Saturday February 13, 1886; the place, Humboldt 
Wells, Nevada. 

President Cannon, at the request of President Taylor, had 
set out for Mexico, to conclude negotiations for the purchase 
of lands in that country ; and traveling with him were Elders 
Erastus Snow, Samuel H. Hill and Orson P. Arnold. Their 
journey had begun at Salt Lake City, from which point, as far 
as Ogden, they occupied for prudential reasons a freight car. 
At Ogden they took team to the vicinity of Willard, and there, 
on the night of February 12th, boarded a west-bound Central 
Pacific passenger train. Next morning, at Winnemucca, Ne- 
vada, Sheriff Fellows, of Humboldt Count}^ got upon the 
train and rode as far as the Wells, where a stop was made for 
dinner. The Sheriff had received a telegram from Marshal 
Ireland, requesting him to arrest George Q. Cannon, who 
would be found in the sleeper "Santa Clara." To whom the 
Marshal was indebted for this information, the public never 
learned ; but it was supposed that a brakeman had recognized 
President Cannon and wired the news to the Utah capital, thus 
earning the promised reward. Sheriff Fellows arrested his 
man and took him from the train. Mr. Arnold followed, leav- 
ing the rest of the party to continue their journey. The Sheriff 
and his prisoner returned to Winnemucca, and there met 
Marshal Ireland and Captain Greenman, just from Salt Lake 
City. 

Alleged Attempt to Escape. — The Marshal and his party, 
with President Cannon in custody, took the Utah-bound pass- 
enger train on the afternoon of the 15th. Early next morn- 
ing, after the train had passed Promontory, an incident oc- 
curred regarding which two different accounts became current. 
President Cannon, according to his own statement, had been 
ill during the night, and was upon the rear platform of the 
last car, inhaling the fresh air, when a sudden lurch threw him 
off his balance. Missing the hand rail, he alighted at full 
length upon the frozen ground. The fall well-nigh stunned 
him ; his nose was broken, and an ugly gash cut over the left 
e3^e. Partly regaining consciousness, he found himself alone 
in the midst of a bleak uninhabited waste. He was soon found, 
however, by Captain Greenman, who had come back to look 
for him, and at the hotel in Promontory Marshal Ireland re- 
joined them. 

Brought Back by the Military. — A belief that the prisoner 
had attempted to escape, supplemented by a report that his 
friends intended to take him by force from the Marshal, caused 
that officer to make a requisition for troops to assist him in 
bringing home the captive. Governor Murray endorsed the 
requisition, and it was honored by the Fort Douglas author- 



SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 429 

ities; Captain Finney, of the Provost Guard, with twenty- 
seven men. being detailed for the service. 

At four o'clock on the morning of the 17th the Marshal 
and his prisoner again set out for Salt Lake City — this time 
on a special train in which President Cannon occupied Bishop 
Sharp's private car, which had been sent for him. The armed 
squad surrounded the improvised couch upon which he rested. 
Just before reaching Ogden the soldiers were ordered to load 
their guns; the phantom of the rumored rescue still haunting 
the minds of their superiors. All was quiet at the Junction 
City, and likewise at the Territorial capital, where the special 
arrived shortly before eight a. m. The soldiers alighted first, 
and through the grim files the bruised and bandaged prisoner 
was liftedinto a hack and conveyed to the office of the United 
States Marshal. 

Excessive Bail Demanded. — President Cannon faced three 
charges for unlawful cohabitation, his case having been segre- 
gated. Bail was demanded in the sum of forty-five thousand 
dollars. For $25,000 of this amount John Sharp and Fera- 
morz Little became his bondsmen, while for the remaining 
$20,000 Francis Armstrong and Horace S. Eldredge were ac- 
cepted as sureties. The prisoner was then delivered into the 
care of his family. 

Bonds Forfeited. — President Cannon's trial was set for 
March 17, at 10 a. m. The hour arrived, but the man did not 
a])pear. While awaiting his coming, the Court passed sentence 
upon his son, Abraham H. Cannon, who had been convicted of 
unlawful cohabitation upon testimony furnished by himself. 
President Cannon still failing to appear, his bond was declared 
forfeited, and the amount, twenty-five thousand dollars, was 
required of his sureties. Sharp and Little, who promptly paid 
it. The bonds for twenty thousand dollars were subsequently 
forfeited in like manner, but in this case the sureties, Arm- 
strong and Eldredge, decided to test in the courts the ques- 
tin of excessive bail. They therefore withheld payment, and 
a suit instituted against them for the amount, after passing 
through the Utah ccairts, was carried to Washington, where 
the Ex-Delegate succeeded in having it dismissed. Eventually 
the amount paid bv liis other bondsmen was restored to him 
by Act of Congress. 

"Mormon" Women's Protest. — Early in March a mass 
meeting of "Mormon" women had convened in the Salt Lake 
Theatre and issued an indignant protest against the treatment 
meted out to their sex in the Federal Courts and in other places 
by representatives of the Government. Stress was laid upon 
the character of questions put to female witnesses in the Grand 



430 WHITNEY'S POPULAR PIISTORY OF UTAH. 



Jury Room, concerning which the protest said: "In order to 
fasten the semblance of i^uilt upon men accused of this of- 
fense (unlawful cohabitation) women are arrested and forcibly 
taken before sixteen men and plied with questions that no 
decent woman can hear without a blush. Little children are 
examined upon the secret relations of their parents, and wives 
in regard to their condition and the doings of their hus- 
bands. If they decline to answer, they are imprisoned in the 
Penitentiary as if they were criminals." The lack of consider- 
ation shown by deputy marshals in their midnight visits to the 
homes of the people, was also mentioned; one case cited being 
a raid upon Greenville, near Beaver, where Deputy Marshals 
Gleason and Thompson conducted themselves toward a num- 
l)er of ladies in a reprehensible manner. Efforts on the part 
of the courts to induce legal wives to testify against their hus- 
bands, were likewise made a subject of complaint. A me- 
morial protesting against such acts was sent to the seat of 
Government. 

Other Notable Arrests. — Among the Elders arrested in 
18S6 were Seymour B. Young and Brigham H. Roberts, of the 
First Council of the Seventy. Mr. Young, son of Joseph 
Young and nephew to the great Pioneer, was one of the vet- 
erans who responded to the call of President Lincoln in 1862, 
for a company of Utah cavalry to guard the overland mail 

route and telegraph line. He 
had also figured in the Black 
Hawk Indian War, and at an 
earlier period as a missionary, 
one of a company that crossed 
the plains with hand carts in 
1857. Mr. Roberts has been 
introduced to the reader as the 
acting President of the South- 
ern States Mission at the time 
of the Cane Creek Massacre. 
Charles O. Card, President of 
Cache Stake ; and William E. 
Bassett. successor to Bishop 
Sharp in the Twentieth Ward 
of Salt Lake Stake, were like- 
wise taken into custody. All 
four were charged with unlaw- 
ful cohabitation, and Bishop 
Bassett with polygamy as well. 
Young and Card escaped from 
the oificers, but the former re- 
SEYMOUR B. YOUNG tumcd and delivered himself to 




SENSATIONAL EPISODES. 431 

the law, whereupon his case was dismissed; the latter pro- 
ceeded to Canada, where he founded Cardston, the first "Mor- 
mon" settlement in the province of Alberta. Mr. Roberts also 
absented himself, refusing to be tried under existing condi- 
tions. He labored for nearly two years in the European 
Mission, and then returned, gave himself up,, and underwent a 
brief lerm of imprisonment. 

The Bassett Case.^ — The Bassett case became noted for 
the reason that the defendant was convicted upon the testi- 
mony of his former legal wife, who was permitted to appear 
in court against him. Chief Justice Zane had ruled that a 
legal wife was a competent witness against her husl:)and when 
the husband had committed a crime against the wife, and he 
held that marriage with a plural wife constituted such a crime. 
Judge Henderson, who had succeeded Judge Powers, followed 
in the wake of the Chief Justice, and it was before him, in 
the District Court at Ogden, that Bishop Bassett came to trial. 
He was convicted, but the judgment, after being confirmed 
by the Supreme Court of the Territory, was reversed by the 
Supreme Court of the United States.* 

G. A. R. Visitors. — In midsummer of 1886 several large 
detachments of the Grand Army of the Republic passed 
through Utah, traveling from the East to San Francisco, where 
a great encampment was to be held. They stopped over long 
enough to warm themselves at a series of "campfires," kindled 
in their honor at the Skating Rink in Salt Lake City. General 
John A. Logan was the principal figure among them, and an 
address by him on the character and power of the American 
dovernment was the most meritorious feature on any of the 
programs. Several local orators contributed to the entertain- 
ment of the guests, and a strong "Anti-Mormon" flavor was 
imparted to the proceedings; "Mormon disloyalty" being the 
main theme dwelt upon. 



*Risliop Bassett was arrested in October, 1886, and tried and con- 
victed in January, 1887. His case was before the Supreme Court of 
Utah in the following Februarj'. Early in March it was carried on a 
writ of error trt Washington. There it was heard during the October 
term of_ 1890. The Court of Last Resort, in rendering its decision, 
ii.=ed this language ; "The wife is not competent, except in cases of 
violence upon her person, directly to criminate her husband, or to 
disclose that which she has learned from him in their confidcnti.-il 
intercourse. This rule is founded upon the deepest and soundest 
principles which have grown out of those domestic relations that con- 
stitute the basis of civil society, and which are essential to the en- 
joyment of that confidence which should subsist between those who 
are connected by the nearest and dearest relations of life. To break- 
down or impair the great principles which protect the sanctities of 
husband and wife, would be to destrov the best solace of human exist- 
ence."— Bassett vs. United States 137' U. S. 496. 



432 WHITNEY'S I'Ol'UEAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



The Thompson-Dalton Homicide. — The close of the year 
witnessed a tragedy that sent a thrill of horror through Utah. 
It was the killing of Edward M. Dalton, a reputable citizen of 
Parowan, Iron County, by U. S. Deputy Marshal William 
Thompson, Jr., already mentioned in connection with the 
raid upon Greenville. Thompson, at the time of the killing, 
was endeavoring to arrest Dalton for an infraction of the 
lulmunds Law. The latter had previously been arrested upon 
the same charge — unlawful cohabitation — but had escaped. 
He spent several months in Arizona, and then returned to 
Parowan. For the purpose of apprehending him, Thompson, 
with Deputy Marshal William O. Orton, rode from Beaver 
during the night, and at Parowan put up at a hotel kept by 
Daniel Page, an apostate "Mormon." Some of the deputies 
had been heard to say that they would shoot Dalton rather 
than permit him to again escape. It remained for Thompson 
to carry out the threat. 

It was the forenoon of the 16th of December, and Dalton, 
mounted, unarmed, and apparently unsuspicious of danger, 
was driving a herd of cattle past Page's place, which was on 
a corner, when, from the back yard of the hotel, he was hailed 
l.'y loud voices and commanded to halt. Almost immediately 
a shot was fired, and Dalton fell from his horse mortally 

wounded. Friends rushed to 
the scene, and the dying man 
was carried, first into the hotel, 
and then toward his mother's 
home, but expired before reach- 
ing there. 

Deputy Marshal Thompson, 
who had fired the shot, de- 
clared that Dalton, on being 
i.iiled. "turned his horse and 
^tarted to get away." He also 
^tated that he tried to fire over 
I )alton, but the gun went off 
sooner than he expected. Other 
witnesses disputed the asser- 
tion that Dalton attempted to 
escape, and the coroner's jury 
decided that the killing was 
felonious. 

The whole town was grief- 
stricken and burning with in- 
dignation. Dalton's slayer, ar- 
EUWARD M. DALTON rested by Sheriff Adams, was 







mm 






y 




»'* 






Wgmf^~<'':h. 4^ 




. 


^ 




^HHn 


1 


1 


1 i 


1 



Sl-.NSATIONAL Jil'ISuDES. 



433 



taken before Justice Henderson, where he waived examina- 
tion and was "held to answer to the Grand Jury. Most of the 
members of that body — which Thompson, it seems, had se- 
lected by the open venire process — accompanied or followed 
a posse of deputy marshals who rode in haste from Beaver with 
a writ of habeas corpus to take the prisoner out of the hands of 
the Sherifif. They had no trouble in securing the persons of 
Thompson and Orton, who were given a hearing- before Judge 
lloreman and admitted to I)ail. 

Marshal Dyer's Attitude. — Frank H. Dyer was then 
United States Marshal for Utah, having succeeded Mr. Ireland 
in the previous June. Thomp- 
son telegraphed to Dyer his 
version of the aifair. The Mar- 
shal was horrified at the act 
of his subordinate, and at once 
revoked his commission. He 
declared that Thompson's 
course was "absolutely unjus- 
tifiable," since Dalton was 
charged only with a misde- 
meanor, and in such cases an 
officer had no right to shoot. 

In Thompson's Behalf. — 
On the other hand it was con- 
tended that a homicide was 
excusable under the Territorial 
statutes when committed by an 
officer while endeavoring to 
arrest a person charged with 
an offense punishable by im- 
])risonment in the Penitentiary, 
provided the killing were nec- 
essary in order to prevent an 
escape. Most of the people, 

hcnvever, stood by Marshal Dyer's interpretation of the law 
--that the right to shoot was limited to cases in which a felony 
had been committed by, or was charged against, the person 
attempting to escape, and did not apply to one accused of a 
niere misdemeanor. That Dalton's alleged offense was a mis- 
demeanor, the Edmunds Law plainly stated. 

Tried and Acquitted. — What the outcome would be 
was evident to the public long before the trial occurred. It 
was well understood that Thompson's course was justified 
by those who would prosecute and sit in judgment upon him. 
His acquittal surprised nobody. 

Mr. Varian's Position. — It is only just to the Assistant- 

27 




MARSHAL DYER 



43-4 W III JNl'A'S I'oI'LLAk ll.lSruKV Ob" UTAH. 

L'. S. Attorney, who went from Salt Lake City to prosecute 
Thompson for manslaughter — this being the indictment in the 
case — that his position in that unfortunate affair should l)e 
clearly understood. Dalton's friends asserted that the Prose- 
cuting Attorney's statement of the case was virtually a plea for 
the defense, and that the same was true of the judge's charge 
to the Jury. Mr. Varian, in a recently published account, says : 

"It was the duty of the United States Attorney to state 
the law governing the case to the court and jury as he under- 
stood it, and it was the duty of the trial judge to direct the 
jury as to the law as he found it to be. In my address to the 
ciiurt * * * J reviewed the acts of Congress on the sub- 
ject of crimes from the foundation of the Government, with 
the conclusion that there was no Federal statute defining 
felonies or misdemeanors, and that the distinction observed by 
the common law was not applicable and could not be made 
effective under our system." 'T further contended that the 
I'crritorial law relative to arrests was not applicable, and was 
not the rule by which the acts of Government officers, execut- 
ing the process of the United States courts, were to be tested." 
He affirmed that the United States Government had the 
power, through its officers, "to employ all means necessary 
t(T arrest and bring to the judgment of its courts offenders 
who had been indicted for violation of its laws," and "the presi- 
ding Judge (Boreman) so charged the jury." Mr. Varian 
claims that "the law, as asserted by the District Attorney and 
announced by the Court, was recognized and approved" at 
A\^ashington. 

The Opposite View. — The, Deseret News denounced the 
whole proceeding as a "farce," and condemned the verdict in 
unmeasured terms. It went so far as to brand Thompson as 
a murderer. A libel suit followed, the slayer of Dalton, with 
Mr. Varian as his attorney, placing his damages at twenty-five 
thousand dollars. Having been acquitted, and his commission 
restored to him, the judicially exonerated Deputy had the 
News people at a disadvantage. The publishers, rather than 
risk a trial, compromised the case, and the matter so ended. 



The President's conscientious 



XXX. 
THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN. 

1886-1887. 

President Cleveland's Policy. — It was a cloudy and a dark 
day for Utah, and was destined to be darker still before the 
storm passed and the day l)roke. President Cleveland was a 
friend to the Territory, and desired the welfare of its people. 
But he was slow to make official chan^^es, and this, in the 
opinion of the majority here, was precisely the thing most 
needed at that particular time, 
adherence to the policy of Civil 
Service Reform was largely re- 
sponsible for his inaction in 
the premises. Furthermore, he 
was no doubt reluctant to dis- 
place officials who had made 
the first efTective moves against 
an institution condemned alikd 
by Democrats and Republicans, 
and who therefore had public 
sympathy to lean upon. While 
no petty calculating politician, 
but a man who dared do right, 
regardless of consequences to 
himself, he owed it to the party 
which had placed him at the 
helm of Government not to put 
weapons, if he could avoid it, 
into the hands of their political 
opponents. 

Governor Murray's Exit. — 
It was a full year after Cleve- 
land's inauguration when he 
called upon Governor Murray 

to resign. The latter had continued in the Governorship 
longer than any of his predecessors excepting Brigham Young. 
Popular with the "Anti-Mormons," he was essentially their 
Governor; the majority of the people having little cause to 
love him. His hospitable nature— for he was a true son of the 
South in that res])ect — accounted for much of his ])opularity 
with those who rallied round him. But he also aided in the 
furtherance of their plans, and they would have been ungrate- 
ful indeed had they not appreciated his devotion and service. 

The imm.ediate cause of Murray's removal grew out of the 
controversy between the Governor and the Legislature, over 




PRESIDENT CLEVEr.AND 



436 WHITNEY'S J'( )1'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



the right to appoint certain Territorial officers. Incensed at 
the refusal of the Council to confirm his appointments, the 
Executive in 1886, as in 1884 and 1882, withheld his signature 
from several very important measures passed by the local law- 
makers ; his crowning act being the veto of the General Appro- 
priation Bill. 

The Legislature adjourned on the 12th of March. Imme- 
diately thereafter Governor Murray issued a proclamation ap- 
pointing Arthur Pratt Auditor, 
Bolivar Roberts Treasurer, and 
Parley L. Williams Superin- 
tendent of Schools for the Ter- 
ritory ; positions then held re- 
spectively by Nephi W^ Clay- 
ton, James Jack, and L. John 
Nuttall. These gentlemen had 
been elected according to law, 
and commissioned by Governor 
Murray himself. Suits for the 
possession of the offices were 
instituted in the Third District 
Court, which tribunal, and sub- 
sequently the Supreme Court 
I if the Territory, decided in 
favor of the Governor's ap- 
pointees. Appeals were then 
taken to the Supreme Court of 
the United States. 

Murray's action in making 
these appointments met the 
approval of the Supreme Court 
at Washington, which event- 
ually decided that the Governor 
was right in his contention. But the veto of the Appropria- 
tion Bill cost him his place ; this action displeasing the Presi- 
dent, who, a few days later, sent a request for his resignation. 
The request, transmitted through the Secretary of the Interior. 
L. Q. C. Lamar, was prompth^ acted upon. The Ex-Governor 
remained in Utah for a season, and was admitted to the Bar, 
l)Ut did not practice as an attorney, and soon after took his 
departure from the Territory.* 




N. W. CLAYTON 



*Murray went to California. Several years later he called upon 
Presidents Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon at San Diego, 
they happening to be there on a visit, and during the course of the 
interview he expressed regret for some of his official acts in this Ter- 
ritory. The Ex-Governor solicited the Ex-Delegate's influence at 
Washington in behalf of a relative who was seeking a Federal ap- 
pointment. The desired influence was not withheld. 



THE DARK r,I^:i'ORE THE DAWN. 437 

Lieutenant Young's Application. — About the time that 
Lx-Governor Murray ai)i)licd for admission to the Utah Bar, 
a similar application was made to the Supreme Court of the 
Territory by Lieutenant Richard W. Young, U. S. A., who was 
tlien stationed at Fort Dous^las. Prompt action was taken 
in Murray's case, but not in Young's, although he presented to 
tlie Judges his certificate as a practicing attorney in the high- 
est courts of the State of New York. Much to his surprise, 
he was required to undergo a special examination, the obvious 
reason ])eing his membership in the "Mormon" Church. While 
perfectly eligible for admission, Lieutenant Young was not 
willing to submit to a religious test of his qualifications, and 
s<^ pressed the matter no further at that time. Subsequently, 
under more favorable conditions, he again applied for ad- 
mission, and was accepted as a practitioner in the Utah 
courts. 

General McCook Transferred. — Governor Murray's re- 
moval was followed by the transfer of General McCook to Fort 
Leavenworth, where he was placed in charge of the Military 
School of Application. McCook and Murray were intimate 
friends, and the post commander was thought to be more or 
less in sympathy with the Executive in some of his ultra offi- 
cial acts. The transfer, viewed by the General's friends as a 
compliment, was regarded by most of the citizens as a reproof 
for the part played by him in those sensational proceed- 
ings. 

Other Changes. — Sundr^^ changes folloW'Cd in the civic list 
of the Territory. Marshal Ireland was permitted to serve out 
his term, and was then succeeded by Marshal Dyer, as previ- 
ously mentioned. Dyer was a native of Mississippi, but at the 
time of his appointment a resident of Park City, Utah, where 
he had an ore-hauling contract for some of the big mines in 
that vicinity. Judge Powers, whose appointment had met 
with strong opposition from the State of Michigan, and whose 
name, after being submitted to the Senate, had been with- 
drawn by the President, retired from the service of the Gov- 
ernment in August. 1886. His successor was Henry P. Hen- 
derson, from the same State. Judges Powers and Henderson 
l»ecame permanent residents of Salt Lake City, and they, as 
well as Marshal Dyer and Judge Zane, were destined to end 
their days here. 

Governor West. — Caleb W. West was the next Governor 
of Utah. Like his predecessor, he was from Kentucky, but 
unlike Murray was a Democrat, and had fought upon the Con- 
federate side during the Civil War. In his native State he 



438 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



lu'ld the piisition of County Jud^c when the appointment 
came that l)r(>nght him to this Territory. It had long been 
his desire to i^overn one of the Western dependencies, and the 
ambition was encouraged by his friend, Mr. Carlisle, Speaker 
of the national House of Representatives. Accordingly the 
matter was presented to President Cleveland, and as soon as 
he had decided to remove Murray, West was singled out as his 
successor. 

A General Welcome. — Governor West arrived at Salt 
Pake Citv on the 5th of May. 1886, and was welcomed by all 

classes of citizens; "Mormon" 
and "Gentile" delegations 
meeting him at Ogden, and es- 
corting him to the capital. In 
the evening, from the balcoii} 
of the Walker Plouse, he ad- 
dressed the multitude, express- 
ing good will toward all the 
l)eople of the Territory, and a 
determination to perform his 
duty faithfully and fearlessly. 
An Offer of Amnesty. — - 
The first official act of the new 
Executive was in keeping with 
these fair-spoken utterances, 
and with the policy of concilia- 
tion that he had evidently de- 
cided to pursue. V^isiting the 
Penitentiary, he conversed with 
the imprisoned Apostle, Loren- 
zo Snow, and others held there 
for like cause, pleading with 
them in an earnest manner, and 
offering amnesty to all who 
would promise to obey the anti-polygamy laws as interpreted 
bv the Federal Courts. That special class of prisoners then 
numbered forty-nine. While impressed wnth the Governor's 
well-meant offer, they informed him that his proposition in- 
volved the sacrifice of a religious conviction, and they could 
not conscientiously give the required promise. Moreover, 
they intimated that even in the absence of conscientious scru- 
\)\es it would l)e exceedingly difficult to do as he desired, owing 
to the many and ever changing interpretations put upon those 
laws by the aforesaid courts. 

The Snow Case at Washington. — The Governor had two 
interviews with the Apostle, and bet\veen them, on the 10th 
of Mav. came a decision from the Supreme Court of the 




GOVERNOR WEST 



Tl 



DAUK i;i:i-(jui': tiiI': dawn. 



439 



United States, teniporariK disposing of the Snow case. In 
the proceedings that went before, the Government had Ijeen 
represented by Assistant Attorney General WilHam A. Maurv. 
and the appellant by Franklin S. Richards, of Salt Lake City, 
and George Ticknor Curtis, of Boston. During the progress 
of the arguments Mr. Maury was asked by the Court \vhat 
polygamists ought to do respecting their plural wives. In- 
stead of answering the question, he became excited and ex- 
claimed: "It would have been infinitely l)etter if these people, 
years ago, had been put to the sword." Mr. Curtis protested 
against the "atrocious sugges- 
tion," and Mr. Richards made! 
I'lTective use of it in the follow- 
ing splendid passages of his 
linal address: 

"\Vc have witnessed today 
a most startling illustration of 
the power of po]:)ular clamor. 
Does any one l)elieve that the 
learned counsel for the Govern- 
ment could, in the discussion of 
any other subject, so far forget 
the dignity due this honorable 
presence as to suggest that 'it 
would have been better had 
these people been put to the 
sword in the first instance?' 
What an expression to fall 
from the lips of the legal repre- 
sentative of the greatest gov- 
ernment on earth, with refer- 
ence to some of its most loyal 
citizens — and uttered too, in 
this temple of justice, where 
reason reigns, and where the 

clamor of the multitude must not enter. Such things have 
been spoken before, in the dark ages that are past and gone 
forever, but ne\cr in this nineteenth century has a more cruel 
and inhuman thing than this been said. I need not answer it, 
because your honors will not consider it. This nation needs 
no more chapters written in blood and tears." 

"When counsel tells us that 'this thing must be stamped 
r tit.' what does he mean? Certainl}- not polygani}-, for there 
is no such charge in these cases. Nor can he mean living in 
the ])ractice of polygamy, for the records in these cases show 
Conclusively that there was no actual cohabitation with more 
than one woman. There remains then, simpl}- the religious 




FR.\NKIJN S. RICHARDS 



-140 WHITNF.Y'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Ijelief of Mr. Snow and his wives that tlieir niarria^^c relations 
are eternal, and it must be that belief which is to be stamped 
out. Can it be possible that the lessons which history teaches 
u])on this subject have been lost to us? Who ever heard of 
a man's convictions being- legislated away, or his belief re- 
moved by persecution and oppression? 

"In conclusion I can btit ask your honors for a reversal of 
the judgments in these cases, and for a just and humane con- 
struction of this statute in its application to them, that the 
people who are affected by the law may know its requirements 
ai;(l be able to avoid its penalties." "I now submit the cases 
in the fervent hope that you will fully and mercifully answer 
the question, which has been so frequently propounded by the 
Court during- this discussion, 'What must these people do?'" 

Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction. — The Supreme Bench 
\^'as not prepared to answer the question. Instead, the Court, 
after some deliberation, decided that it had no jurisdiction in 
the case, and accordingly dismissed it. In order to be con- 
sistent, it recalled its mandate in the Cannon case, and dis- 
missed that also ttpon the same grounds. 

Governor's Proclamation and Report. — Governor West, 
on the 16th of July, issued a proclamation warning the "Mor- 
mons" and all who intended to become "Mormons" against 
\iolating the anti-polygamy laws. Three months later he 
sent his first report to the Secretary of the Interior. Therein 
he gave the number of Utah convictions under the Edmunds 
Law as ninety-three — six of them for polygamy, and eighty- 
seven for unlawful cohabitation. Most of these were from 
Salt Lake, Weber, Beaver, and Tooele counties, and all from 
eight of the twenty-fotir cotmties of the Territory. Only seven 
persons had given the promise to obey. The report made ref- 
erence to the Penitentiary, the good health of whose inmates, 
"under crowded and unfavorable conditions," s])oke well "for 
its conduct and management ;" and also referred to the Indus- 
trial Home, an institution for the founding of which the previ- 
ous Congress had appropriated the sum of forty thousand 
dollars. There was no armed resistance to authority in Utah, 
but much bitterness and division existed between "Mormons" 
and "Gentiles." There being no organized militia in the Ter- 
ritor^■. the Go^'ernor recommended, as a precautionary meas- 
ure, tliat troops of the regular army be made available to the 
ci\il authorities in the event of a violent outbreak. Certain 
reforms in the United States Marshal's Office were advised; 
all fees should be turned into the Territorial Treasury, and the 
Marshal ]^:\u\ a fixed salarv of not less than five thousand 
d(;llars a }car. The Marshal and his deputies ought to be men 



T H 1 •: D. \ I< K B E 1 'OR E T H K DAW N . 44 1 

of the best character and qualities. The Governor also fav- 
ored further anti-polygamy legislation. 

The Industrial Home. — The Industrial Home, mentioned 
in the Governor's report, owed its existence, primarily, to the 
zealous efforts of Mrs. Angie F. Newman, of Lincoln, Ne- 
braska, a worthy, well-intentioned woman, but one easily im- 
posed upon and grossly misinformed respecting affairs in Utah. 
This lady, when she originated her philanthropic plan, had in 
view the shelter and employment of women and children who, 
it was supposed, would desert or be cast off by their husbands 
and fathers, in consequence of the anti-polygamy crusade. 
But the "Home" proved a failure. It was a needless institu- 
tion, so far as "Mormon" wives and children were concerned. 
The structure, which was erected on Fifth East Street, Salt 
Lake City, after its uselessness as a place of refuge had been 
demonstrated, was utilized for a time as an office building by 
the Utah C<^mmission, and subsequently turned into a hotel.* 

The Loyal League. — Toward the close of 1886 there arose 
in Utah an organization known as "The Loyal League," hav- 
ing its headquarters at Salt Lake City, with branches in vari- 
ous towns and settlements. It succeeded "The Gentile League, 
of Utah," which had passed out of existence. The objects of 
the new League, as set forth in its constitution, were "to com- 
bine the loyal people of Utah, male and female, irrespective of 
politics, in opposition to the political rule and law-defying 
practices of the so-called Mormon Church ; to oppose the ad- 
m.ission of Utah into the Union until she has the substance as 
well as the form of republican government," and "to raise 
money to maintain agents in \\^ashington or elsewhere to labor 
for these ends." The League had its greatest popularity in 
the mining camps, where, hoAvever, the practical working of its 
policy had the effect of alienating some adherents of the 



*The promoters of "The Industrial Christian Home of Utah" made 
strenuous efforts to prevent the threatened collapse of that superfluous 
institution. Congress was asked for a supplemental appropriation of 
eighty thousand dollars, and in order to induce favorable action upon 
the petition, certain statements were made at Washington and pub- 
lished in the Congressional Record under date of October 3, 1888. 
To show the undesirability of the Utah Penitentiary as a place of 
detention for women, and incidentally the need of the "Home," it was 
reported, among other things, that in one of the cells of the Peniten- 
tiary "were two girls, one fourteen and one sixteen, who were mar- 
ried to their own father, both with babes." "This is wholly incorrect," 
said Marshal Dyer in a letter used by Delegate Caine, while refuting 
the slanderous allegation on the floor of the House of Representatives, 
"and I cannot understand how an3'body could have been so misled. 
Somebody must have made malicious misrci)resentations to Mrs. New- 
man on this subject, as we have never had any girls of this age con- 
fined in the Penitentiary since J have been Marshal." 



44-' \VIII'rNI':\'"S l'( )1'UL.\ 



SIORV OF UTAH. 



I41)cral I'arly. One of these was Jesse Knight, the present- 
day mining magnate, who became from that time a staunch 
supporter of the People's Party. 

League Influence at Washington. — Tiie Loyal League 
sent as its agents td the seat of Government Charles W. Ben- 
nett and Robert N. Baskin, both 
])rt)minent members of the 
Utah Bar. They found a wil- 
ling co-worker in Miss Kate 
Field, whose sensational lec- 
ture, "The Mormon Monster," 
was delivered there about the 
time of the opening of Con- 
gress. Another female ally of 
the League's agents was Caro- 
line Owen Miles, who had left 
Utah several years before and 
secured a clerkship in one of 
the Departments at Washing- 
ton. 

A Good Fighting Chance. 

— In dismissing the Snow and 
Cannon cases, the Court of 
Last Resort had blocked the 
JESSE KNIGHT ^y^y toward a final settlement 

of the momentous issues that had arisen in connection there- 
with. It had also tied this class of defendants hand and foot 
and delivered them over to the Utah courts, from whose ritl- 
ings, however severe, there now seemed no chance of appeal. 
But Lorenzo Snow had an able attorney and a faithful friend 
in Franklin S. Richards, the leading counsel for the "Mormon" 
people in most of the important cases arising in Utah during 
that period. Mr. Richards was untiring in his efforts to find 
a way out of the difficulties encompassing his distressed co- 
religionists. Eventually his resourceful mind hit upon a plan 
which he thought afforded "a good fighting chance." When 
the Snow case was taken to Washington, the question mostly 
])ressed was not "segregation," but "constructive cohabita- 
tion." involving the identity of the legal wife and the defend- 
ant's assumed intimacy with her. Mr. Richards now de- 
cided to isolate the "segregation' issue, make it the basis of 
action, and institute i)roceedings in behalf of his client on the 
ground of unlawful detention. Such a plea, however, could 
only be made to applv to that portion of the Apostle's sentence 
of imprisonment over and al)o\e the first six months, the 
le;..'al term for unlawful cohabitation. The attornev waited. 




Tin-: DAkK l',l-:i-(3RE T[IE DAWN. 443 

therefore, for the six months to expire, Ijefore applying for tlie 
necessary writ of habeas corpus. 

Tudg-e Zane denied the writ, and an appeal was then taken 
to the Supreme Court of the United States. That tribunal 
heard the case in January. 1887; Richards and Curtis appear- 
ing? for the appellant, and Mr. Maury for the Government. 
The Assistant Attorney General contended that the three 
judgments pronounced upon Lorenzo Snow were for three 
distinct offenses, and that he had been fined and imprisoned 
accordingly. This being the case, the plea of unlawful deten- 
tion did not apply. In answer to that argument, it was claimed 
that three separate sentences had been imposed for one of- 
fense, unlawful cohabitation, maintained continuously from 
•he first of January, 1883, to the last of December, 188,S. Inhere 
was no evidence that it had been interrupted in any manner 
whatever between the dates given, and the prosecution could 
not sit idly by for years, and then swoop down upon the un- 
suspecting citizen, piling on indictments by a process which, 
if tolerated, could be made to place him in prison for life and 
absorb a fabulous sum in fines. There must be an interrui)tion 
in the relationship of cohabitation, as construed by the courts, 
before two or more indictments could be found at one time 
for a past offense. This act, being continuous, was but one 
oft'ense, and the judgments as to the second and third penal- 
ties were therefore void.* 

Segregation Shattered. — The Court was now ready to 
face the issue and right the wrong. It reached a decision on 
the 7th of February. Assuming jurisdiction of the case, it 
held that the cohabitation for which the appellant had been 
convicted was one continuous offense, extending over- the 
entire period covered by the three indictments. This ruling 
shattered the doctrine of segregation, and put a stop to the 
practice. Torenzo Snow, an order for whose release was tele- 
graphed from Washington, left the Penitentiary soon after the 
decision was rendered! Six others imprisoned under the segre- 
gating process likewise regained their liberty. 

*A number of English and American cases were cited, bearing 
with singular analogy upon the case under consideration. Tn one it 
had been held that the felonious taking of coal from a mine, day after 
ciay, for a period covering four years, was but a single ofTense, for 
the reason that there had been no cessation, and the taking was in all 
respects continuous. Tn another case a man had attached a fraudulent 
pipe to a gas main, from which, for a protracted period, gas had been 
drawn during the day and turned off at night, and yet it was held 
to be only one offense. The Judge, in one instance had reasoned, that 
it would be as just to hold that every stitch taken by a tailor on the 
Lord's day constituted a new and distinct offense in .Sabbath-breaking, 
as to hold' that any act continuous in its nature could be so divided and 
multiplied. 



444 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

"Ultra" Demands. — It has already been shown that the 
surrender of plural marriage was not the only concession re- 
quired from the Latter-day Saints. The abandonment of 
their peculiar marria,a,e system was a mere ba.s^atelle in com- 
parison with other issues of the local controversy. "We care 
nothing for your polygamy," many "Gentiles" were wont to 
say in private to their "Mormon" neighbors. "It's a good war 
cry, and serves to enlist sympathy for our cause ; but what 
we most object to is your unity, your political and commer- 
cial solidarity, your obedience to spiritual leaders in temporal 
affairs. We want you to throw off the yoke and be free, as 
we are." The fact that they were dominated by rings, cliques, 
and combinations of their own, did not seem to enter into their 
philosophy. 

"A Place in the Sun." — What these agitators really want- 
ed was the passing of the reins of power from the hands of the 
priest to those of the politician. It was all right to be "bossed" 
politically, but all wrong to be influenced ecclesiastically — in 
temporal matters. The Liberal Party, still in the minority, 
was tired of looking on. It longed to experience the sensation 
of office-holding. It wanted "a place in the sun" — that was 
the core of the question. All the rest — allowing for the sin- 
cerity of some who really thought "Mormonism" a moral 
blight and a menace to free institutions — was mere fustian. 

The agitation went on, its radical promoters charging 
murder, priestcraft, tyranny and treason. The "Mormons" 
were an ignorant and immoral community, steeped in dis- 
loyalty, wallowing in corruption and crime. Rebellion was 
rampant in Utah, and the "Gentiles" were in constant fear, 
trembling for their lives and the safety of their property. All 
of which was the veriest rubl)ish. and the "Gentiles" knew it 
as w^ell as the "M^ormons." 

A Manifest Absurdity. — Persons influenced by these 
stories rarely stopped to consider their manifest absurditv. 
Such accusations virtually contradicted themselves. Had 
they been well founded, their authors would have been the first 
to feel the rigors of "Mormon' resentment and retaliation. That 
"(icntile" editor was right who wrote in after years concerning 
these people: "Their patience under the consistent hurling of 
missiles against them has been one of the matchless testi- 
monies to the good temper, the moderation, the self-control of 
Utah's most worthy citizens. If they had been the sort of 
Ijeople described * * * they would have spoken with vio- 
lence their protest against the slanders that pictured them as 
criminals l)v inheritance and traitors b^' choice."* 



*The Ilerald-Republican, Salt Lake City, Octol)er 31, 1909. 



THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN. 445 

Such charges as these had led to the enactment of the 
Edmunds Law; and their persistent reiteration, with the ad- 
ditional statement that this law had proved inadequate for 
tlie correction of the evil, induced Congress to supplement it 
with a statute even more severe. 

The Edmunds-Tucker Law. — As early as December, 1(S82. 
Senator Edmunds had introduced into Congress a bill to amend 
the law bearing his name. This bill, which died almost at its 
birth, but experienced repeated resurrections, was finally en- 
acted as the Edmunds-Tucker Law, so named for its principal 
promoters. Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, and 
Representative John Randolph Tucker, of Virginia. It i(^nk 
live years to produce this statute; not because those friendly 
to it were idle or indifferent the while, but owing to a desire 
on the part of many Congressmen, some of whom believed the 
Edmunds Law had strained the Constitution, to allow the 
medicine already administered to do its work, before foisting 
upon the over-dosed patient another prescription. 

The new law provided that in prosecutions for poly- 
gamy or unlawful cohabitation, the lawful husband or wife 
might testify as a witness. It had been proposed to compel 
them to testify, but an amendment prevailed modifying that 
section. 

It was also provided that attachments might issue, with- 
out previous subpoena, compelling the immediate attendance 
of witnesses. 

All marriages were to be of public record, containing the 
names of the contracting parties, the nature of the ceremony, 
and the name of the officer, priest, or person performing the 
same. 

Adultery and other sexual offenses were made punishable, 
and local laws providing that prosecutions for adultery could 
be commenced only upon the complaint of husband or wife, 
were annulled. 

The probate judges in Utah were to be appointed by the 
President of the United States. 

It was made the duty of the Attorney-General to institute 
and prosecute proceedings to forfeit and escheat to the Fed- 
eral Government property held in violation of the Anti-polyg- 
amy Law of 1862 and of Section 1890 of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States; and all such property was to be dis- 
posed of by the Secretary of the Interior, for the use and 
benefit of the common schools of Utah or of any other Terri- 
tory in which it might be found. Places of worship and par- 
sonages, with their appurtenant grounds, also cemeteries, were 
exempted from forfeiture ; but all Church property in real 
estate was to be held by trustees nominated by their respec- 



446 WHITNEY'S i'Ui'ULAR iiiSTURY OF UTAH. 

tive sects, societies, or congregations, and appointed by courts 
exercising" probate powers. 

'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was dis- 
incorporated, and the Attorney-General was empowered and 
directed to cause such proceedings to be taken in the Supreme 
Court of Utah as should be proper and necessary to wind up 
the affairs of the late corporation. 

The Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company was dissolved, 
its property iDeing escheated to the Govenment for the benefit 
of the common schools in Utah. 

The office of Territorial Superintendent of District Schools 
was abolished, and the duties of that officer were placed upon 
a Commissioner of Schools, to be appointed by the Supreme 
Court of Utah. All sectarian i'nstruction in the common 
schools was forbidden. 

Female suffrage was abolished in Utah ; likewise the Nau- 
voo Legion and the local militia laws. 

The Territory was to be re-districted, and the Utah Com- 
mission continued in office. 

As a condition precedent to voting, holding office, or 
serving on juries in this Territory, an oath, in addition to the 
usual obligation, was required of every male person, pledging 
obedience to the anti-polygamy laws, and promising not to 
teach, aid, or advise anything contrary thereto. 

All persons convicted of polygamy or unlawful cohabita- 
tion were disfranchised, and illegitimate children, with cer- 
tain exceptions, disinherited. 

There were other provisions, but they were of minor im- 
portance. One of them abolished the secret ballot, which had 
already been done away with by the Utah Legislature. 

In the Senate. — During the debate upon the bill out of 
which grew this Act of Congress, Senator Brown, of Georgia, 
declared that so far as the execution of the law was concerned, 
there was no need of this additional legislation. As matters 
then stood (January, 1886), it was only necessary to make out 
a prima facie case, and a very light one, in order to convict a 
"Mormon" polygamist. Jurors, before being accepted in the 
courts, were required to swear that they did not believe polyg- 
amy right. This alone would show that they were not im- 
partial, but they were even asked by the United States At- 
torney if they were "in sympathy with the prosecution." 

Senator Edmunds was greatly shocked by this statement 
of the Senator from Georgia. He did not believe that a juror 
in Utah had ever been asked by a District Attorney if he was 
"in sympathy with the prosecution." The Vermont statesman, 
if his incredulity was sincere, evidently had not read the Dis- 
trict Court proceedings in the case of Angus M. Cannon. 



T 1 i K r ). \ u K i] 1^: i'ORK r ii e da w n . 447 

Another stront;' opponent of the Edmunds-Tucker Bill was 
Senator Vest, of Missouri. "As a matter of course," said he, 
"this bill will become a law, but I cannot vote for it. I am well 
aware what the public sentiment of the country is, but that 
makes no sort of impression on me, with my convictions as a 
lecj^islator; nor will any amount of criticism on my action. I 
cannot vote for this bill because in my judgment it violates 
the fundamental principles of the Constitution of the United 
States. * * * i^ js naked, simple, bold confiscation, and 
nothing' else. * * * The whole spirit of this test-oath 
legislation is wrong; it is contrary to the principles and spirit 
of our Republican institutions; and whenever the time comes 
in the Territories or States of this Union that test oaths are 
necessary to preserve the public institutions, then Republi- 
canism is at an end." 

To Senator Edmunds, who declared that the Constitu- 
tion itself incorporated test oaths, Senator Vest replied : "The 
President of the United States and each member of Congress 
swears to support the Constitution of the United States; but 
v^'ho ever heard before that that was a test oath?" "A test oath 
is one that tests the conscience as to a particular act or belief." 

Senator Teller, of Colorado, also spoke against the pend- 
ing measure, and incidentally paid a fine tribute to the pa- 
tience and self-control of the people of Utah. 

Before the Judiciary Committee. — During April and May 
of that year a number of Utah men appeared before the Ju- 
diciary Committee of the House, speaking for or against the 
measure then under consideration by Congress. One of these, 
Mr. F. S. Richards, referring to a certain feature of the pro- 
posed enactment, showed that already in Utah legal wives had 
been required to testify against their husbands, and that at- 
tachments had been issued for witnesses without previous sul)- 
poena ; acts which Congress was now called upon to legalize. 

Mr. Gibson, a Washington attorney, who was assisting 
Delegate Caine in his fight upon the bill, expressed the hope 
that Congress would make the provisions against adultery and 
fornication broad enough to cover everybody. Whereupon 
Representative Eden, a member of the Committee, inquired: 
"Does not Section Nineteen apply to everybody?" Gibson re- 
sponded: "You would think an act of Congress that says 'any 
male person cohabiting with more than one woman' would 
apply to everybody, wouldn't you? But it has not been made 
to so apply. You know Congress enacts laws, and the courts 
construe them." 

fudge Baskin, the Loyal Ecague agent, wanted laws en- 
acted that would strike at the foundation of the "Mormon" 
theocratic svstcm. He was answered bv Mr. Boutwcll, an- 



-148 WHITNEY'S TOPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

other Washington lawyer, who asked if Congress was pre- 
pared to strike down the Jewish organization or the Catholic 
Church, because they were "theocratic systems." 

Honorable Jefif Chandler also opposed the bill, maintain- 
ing that the Government had no right to disestablish a church, 
or to confiscate the property of a corporation whose charter 
was repealed. 

Judge Baskin contended that all the arguments advanced 
by the other side fell to the ground in the presence of the 
fact that the pending bill was designed to meet a peculiar state 
of aft'airs, which warranted unusual measures. In other words, 
"the end justified the means." 

Neither Approved nor Vetoed. — The Edmunds- Tucker 
Bill, having passed through Congress, was sent to the Presi- 
dent. He neither approved nor vetoed it, and ten days later, 
March 3, 1887, it became a law without his signature. Cleve- 
land did not favor the measure, but feared that if he vetoed 
it a worse one would follow. "Tell your people," said he to 
Delegate Caine, "that the law shall not be harshly admin- 
istered. While it is my duty to see it enforced, I promise that 
it shall be executed impartially and in the spirit of justice and 
Inimanity." 

Changes in the Utah Commission. — In the personnel of 
the Utah Commission, several changes had taken place since 
the first organization. Mr. Carlton was now chairman, Gov- 
ernor Ramsey having resigned ; and the latter had been suc- 
ceeded as a member by General John A. McClernand, of Il- 
linois. A. B. Williams, of Arkansas, had the place formerly 
held by James R. Pettigrew, deceased; and Arthur L. Thomas, 
of Utah, had succeeded A. S. Paddock, resigned. William C. 
Hall, a Salt Lake lawyer, was now Secretary of the Territory 
and ex-officio Secretary of the Board. 

The Brigham City Election. — The Commisisoners took 
early steps to prepare for the local elections under the new 
statute. The first one was held at Brigham City on the 7th 
of March. Some hope had been entertained by the Liberals 
that their political opponents, bearing in mind the attitude of 
those who had refused in court to promise obedience, would de- 
cline to take the test oath, and so fail to register. But the hope 
was vain. The great majority of the "Mormon" men were mon- 
ogamous in practice, standing upon quite another plane to 
that occupied by their polygamous brethren. This being the 
case, they saw no reason why they should not exercise their 
rights as citizens. A few "Mormons" and some "Gentiles" re- 
fused to be sworn, but eventually the whole male population 
eligible for enrollment registered. The women, having been 
disfranchised, made no effort to have their names placed upon 



THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN. 449 

the registration books. The election result at Brigham was 
the usual victory for the People's Party. 

The Territory Redistricted. — During May the Utah Com- 
mission, with the Governor and the Secretary, redistricted the 
Territory, creating twenty-four Representative and twelve 
Council districts. The August elections returned five Liberals 
to the Legislature. A large majority of the Territorial, county 
and precinct officers-elect were "Mormons," and of course 
monogamists. 

Death of President Taylor.— Monday, July 25th, 1887, wit- 
nessed the passing of President John Taylor, the head of the 
"Mormon" Church, whose death occurred at the home of 
Thomas F. Roueche, in Kaysville, Davis County, Utah. The 
funeral services were held in the Tabernacle at Salt Lake City, 
on Friday the 29th, the interment being in the City Cemetery. 
President Taylor died in exile and was looked upon by the 
Latter-day Saints as a martyr to his religion. 

Proceedings in Escheatment. — Proceedings now began 
for the confiscation of the "Mormon" Church property, pur- 
suant to the provisions of the recent Act of Congress. For this 
purpose, on the 30th of July, at the instance of the United 
States Attorney-General, two suits were planted in the Su- 
preme Court of Utah. The first was entitled : "The United 
States of America, plaintifi:', versus the late Corporation of the 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, John Taylor, late 
Trustee-in-Trust, and Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, 
Erastus Snow, Franklin D. Richards, Brigham Young, Moses 
Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, John Henry Smith, George Teas- 
dale, Heber J. Grant, and John W. Taylor, late assistant trus- 
tees, defendants," The title of the second suit was, "The 
United States of America, plaintiff, versus The Perpetual 
Emigrating Fund Company, Albert Carrington, F. D. Rich- 
ards, F. M. Lyman, H. S. Eldredge, Joseph F. Smith, Angus 
M. Cannon, Moses Thatcher, John R. Winder, Henry Din- 
woodey, Robert T. Burton, A. O. Smoot, and H. B. Clawson, 
defendants." 

The prosecution was conducted by United States Attorney 
George S. Peters, who had succeeded Mr. Dickson, the latter 
having been removed in April. Mr. Peters was from Ohio. 
He was assisted by William J. Clarke, and H. W. Hobson, the 
latter U. S. Attorney for Colorado. The defense was rep- 
resented by Franklin S. Richards and Le Grande Young, of 
Salt Lake City; James O. Broadhead, of St. Louis; and Joseph 
E. McDonald, of Indianapolis. Colonel Broadhead and Ex- 
U. S. Senator McDonald were among the foremost lawyers of 
America. The Supreme Court of Utah then consisted of Chief 
Justice Zane, and Associate Justices Henderson and Boreman. 

28 



450 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Statement of Facts. — Arguments in the confiscation suits 
began on the 17th of October. The first question discussed 
was the appointment of a Receiver, to take charge of the 
Church property during this litigation. A statement of facts 
showed that the Church, by three trustees, William B. Preston, 
Robert T. Burton, and John R. Winder (appointed by the Pro- 
bate Court of Salt Lake County, pursuant to the provisions of 
the Edmunds-Tucker Law), held three pieces of real estate, 
namely, the Temple Block, the Tithing House and grounds, 
and the premises containing the Gardo House and the His- 
torian's OfTice. It was also shown that personal property, 
\alued at $268,982.39i/', had been held by the late President 
Taylor, in trust for the Latter-day Saints in the various Stakes 
of Zion, but had been conveyed to them in their corporate ca- 
pacity, as Church Associations of those Stakes, about two 
months before the appointment of the three Trustees. 

Broadhead's Brilliant Plea. — Colonel Broadhead, in a 
masterly plea, attacked the constitutionality of the Edmunds- 
Tucker Law, denying the right of Congress to dissolve a 
church corporation and confiscate its property. He also op- 
posed the appointment of a Receiver. The property was in 
safe hands, and the Court was not authorized to remove it. 
Congress could not rightfully deprive a person of property 
without due process of law. A mob might take a man and hang 
him, but that was not due process of law ; it was the power 
exercised by the grizzly bear in the mountains, when it seized 
it- prey. The defendants claimed the protection of the Consti- 
tution, to stop the spoliation of their property by the oppres- 
sive and arbitrary Act of Congress. 

Hobson for the Government. — Mr. Hobson, in the course of 
an able reply, contended that the Court was vested with abso- 
lute right to administer on the Church property under the Act 
of Congress. What were called the "vested rights" of the 
Church were only "squatter rights." The escheated property 
was liable to be destroyed, and the appointment of a Receiver 
was therefore proper and necessary. 

McDonald's Argument. — Ex-Senator McDonald dis- 
I>uted the proposition that the power of Congress was abso- 
lute. The act incorporating the Church was a charter, and 
had become a vested right. The decree of dissolution was a 
judicial act, such as Congress, a legislative body, had no right 
to perform. Of the three pieces of real property owned by the 
Church, two, the Temple Block and the Tithing House 
i2 rounds, had been occupied long before 1862, while the Gardo 
House and the Historian's Office grounds, acquired since, were 
a parsonage, and as such legally exempt from forfeiture. All 
this property was in the hands of Trustees appointed under the 



THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN. 



451 



provisions of the Kdniunds-Tuckcr Law. The personal prop- 
erty distributed to the Stakes did not belong to the Church, 
but had been held in trust. If a Receiver could be appointed to 
take into custody property so held, there was no right of an 
/Nmerican citizen that was not subject to invasion. 

Reply of Attorney Peters. — United States Attorney Peters 
considered the present proceeding" one to administer upon the 
estate of a dissolved corporation. He did not think the ques- 
tion of the validity of the law could properly come up at this 
time. The Church had no vested right to the real estate, and 
the transfer of the personal property was fradulent. There was 
a disposition to scatter the property, and a Receiver should be 
appointed to take charge of it. 

The Plaintiff the Receiver.- — The Court, on the 5th of 
November, unanimously granted the motion for the appoint- 
ment of a Receiver. The 
person chosen for this im- 
portant position was United 
States Marshal Dyer. The 
selection, while agreeable to 
counsel on both sides, was 
exceedingly distasteful to 
Judge Zane, who dissented 
from the majority of the 
Court in making the appoint- 
ment. His objection har- 
monized with a critical view 
expressed by The New York 
Sun, to the efifect that tlie 
Court, in selecting the 
United States Marshal, had 
virtually made the plaintiff 
the receiver. Dyer's bond 
was fixed at three hundred 
thousand dollars. He was in- 
structed to take possession ol 
the Church property, real 
and personal, and manage 
and control it. The defend- 
ants were ordered to deliver 

to him all assets, property, and effects of every description, 
belonging to the late corporation. 

Church Property Seized. — The first piece of property 
seized under this order of the Court was the Tithing Ofifice, 
which was turned over on demand by John R. Winder, one of 
the Presiding Bishopric. An officer was placed in charge, with 
the understanding that business would continue as usual 




BISHOP WINDER. 



452 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



without interruption, until further notice. Next, the Gardo 
House and the Historian's Office were taken, and even the 
Temple Block was demanded. The Church was required to 
pay for the use of the Tithing Office and Historian's Office, a 
yearly rental of $2400; and for the Gardo House, $450 a 
month ; also a nominal rental for the use of Temple Block. 

The property of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Com- 
j.any likewise passed into the hands of the Receiver. It 
amounted to about half a million dollars, but was mostly in 

promissory notes, uncol- 
lectable and of no value. 
Later the President's office 
was seized; the clerks being 
dismissed, and two deputy 
marshals put in charge. 
These summary proceedings 
followed a refusal to turn 
over to the Receiver's attor- 
ney, P. L. Williams, certain 
books which one of the 
clerks, David McKenzie. 
claimed did not belong to the 
Church corporation. 'The 
books were carried off, and 
other seizures made. Work 
upon the uncompleted Salt 
Lake Temple ceased, all the 
laborers being discharged. 

Trustees Made Defend- 
ants. — William B. Preston. 
Robert T. Burton, and John 
R. Winder, the Presiding 
Bishopric of the Church, and 
now trustees of its property, 
were made parties to the main suit, and a number of smaller 
suits were instituted by the Receiver against various persons 
holding property that had belonged to the Church. E. T. 
Sprague was appointed Examiner, to take testimony in these 
cases. Subsequently, in order to stop litigation over minor 
issues and expedite the settlement of the entire question, it 
v/as agreed that the smaller suits should be dismissed, and the 
properties in dispute turned over to the Receiver, pending final 
adjudication. 

Estimated Values. — In July 1887 it was estimated that 
property valued at about eight hundred thousand dollars, ex- 
clusive of Temple Block, upon which no valuation was placed, 
had been seized under the order of the Supreme Court. This 




BISHOP PRESTON. 



THE DARK BEFORE THE DAWN. 453 

property, in addition to the real estate already described, con- 
sisted of farms, coal mines, cattle, sheep, gas stock and divi- 
dends, Deseret Telegraph stock, and notes signed by various 
persons for stock in the Salt Lake Theatre. At the conclusion 
of arrangements Receiver Dyer and U. S. Attorney Peters set 
out for Washington, to confer with leading national author- 
ities, and have the agreement for the temporary surrender of 
the property ratified by the Attorney General. 



XXXI. 
RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 

1887-1889. 

Pardoned by the President. — During- the year 1887 Presi- 
dent Cleveland pardoned several of the imprisoned polyga- 
mists, including Joseph H. Evans, of Salt Lake City, a man 
nearly seventy years of age. Concerning this object of his 
clemency, the President said: "I am determined that the hard- 
ship of his case shall not be cited to show that the Government 
is inclined to be vindictive in its attempts to extirpate the 
practice of polygamy." Another of the pardoned was Rudger 
Clawson, whose devoted mother visited Washington and made 
a personal appeal to the President in her son's behalf. Charles 
Livingston, former Street Supervisor at the Utah capital, re- 
ceived amnesty upon the request of some of his non-"Mormon" 
friends; Mr. Isadore Morris, a Hebrew merchant, taking the 
initiative. The editor of the Salt Lake Tribune was among 
tliose who signed the petition for a pardon in this case. 

Better Days at Hand. — From that time forward it was 
evident that a more moderate policy would prevail. Through 
rifts in the still threatening cloud, glimpses of clear sky were 
visible. Changes were at hand betokening a happier era, and 
on both sides of the- social chasm a more kindly feeling was 
manifest. These modified conditions did not promise any 
change of attitude on the part of the Government toward the 
practice of plural marriage ; but they indicated a cessation of 
harsh and illegal methods of dealing with polygamous of- 
fenders. There was a general sentiment of reaction, largely 
springing from charitable impulses. Some of the "Ultras." 
however, still favored "heroic treatment" as the most eflPective 
means of accomplishing the end sought, and these continued 
to work for more stringent Congressional legislation. 

Affairs in Idaho.^ — In Idaho the crusade had been carried 
on vindictively. Those who engineered the "Anti-Mormon" 
movement in that Territory boasted that their juries would 
convict "Mormons" whether innocent or guilty. The U. S. 
Marshal, who afterwards became Delegate in Congress and 
subsequently a United States Senator, affirmed that he had "a 
jury that would convict Jesus Christ;" and no one disputed, 
or had any reason to dispute, the profane declaration. But 
now there was a growing sentiment of moderation. lohn W. 



RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 455 

Taylor, a "Mormon" Apostle, at a public meeting in Oxford 
had criticized the disfranchisement test oath and advised all 
monogamous "Mormons" to vote at the Delegate election. 
These utterances were construed as "inciting to lawlessness," 
and Elder Taylor was indicted upon that ground. The case, 
however, did not come to trial, being dismissed in May, 1887. 
Elder Parkinson, previously mentioned as having been sen- 
tenced to a year's imprisonment at Boise, had served out the 
greater part of his term when he was pardoned by President 
Cleveland, upon the recommendation of James H. Hawley, the 
attorney who had prosecuted him, and who afterwards became 
Governor of Idaho.* 

Matters in Arizona. — Still more pronounced was the mod- 
ification of the "Anti-Mormon" feeling in Arizona. In Octo- 
ber, 1886, at the instance of Delegate C. C. Bean and other 
influential citizens, the imprisoned Elders Tenney, Christoffer- 
son, and Kempe received pardon ; and this act of clemency on 
the part of the Chief Magistrate was emulated by the Gov- 
ernor and Legislature of the Territory when, in January, 1887, 
they wiped the hateful test oath legislation from their statute 
book. 

Business Versus Politics. — The turn of the tide in Utah 
was owing in large part to an action taken by conservative 
"Gentile" business men, who, weary of the wrangling of the 
politicians, determined to put a stop to the strife that was 
paralyzing trade and driving away prosperity. They came 
forward with a plan which they hoped would end the baneful 
agitation. Governor West led out in this movement, the pur- 
pose of which was to revive commerce, encourage home indus- 
tries, attract outside capital and population, and if possible 
bring together the discordant social elements and weld them 
into a harmonious homogeneous force, working for the welfare 
and progress of the Territory. 

The Chamber of Commerce. — The result was the Salt 
Lake Chamber of Commerce, organized in May, 1887; its 
founders being "Gentile" and "Mormon" merchants, manufac- 
turers, financiers, and other men of affairs. At first a suspicion 
that the advancement of the Liberal Party was the object in 
view caused business men of the opposite political affiliation 
to hold aloof from the organization ; but when it became ap- 
parent that politics and religion were actually excluded from 
the Chamber, they rallied to its support, and were among its 
firmest and most substantial pillars. That it would help to 
allay ill feeling, and pave the way to a better understanding 



*According to Elder Parkinson, the pardon, which had been en- 
trusted to the Idaho Delegate, through some mischance did not arrive 
"irntil after the expiration of the term of imprisonment. 



456 WHITNEY'S POi'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



l)etween "Mormons" and "Gentiles," was the hope and ex- 
pectation on either side. 

The Exposition Car. — Early in 1888 the Chamber of Com- 
merce conceived an effective plan for advertising Utah through 
the United States. A fund having been raised among business 
men and other citizens, a car lent by the Union Pacific Railroad 
Company w^as fitted up with a splendid exhibit of native 
products and home manufactures, and sent touring through 

the principal cities of the East. 
The car and the exhibit were 
in charge of Mr. H. L. A. Cul- 
mer, artist, and at that time 
editor of the Salt Lake Journal 
of Commerce, the official organ 
of the Chamber. The Exposi- 
tion Car left Utah on the 6th of 
June, and in three months trav- 
eled about nine thousand miles. 
It opened in sixty cities, and 
was visited by nearly two hun- 
dred thousand people. Many 
tons of printed matter were dis- 
tributed, and reliable informa- 
tion upon Western affairs 
spread far and wide. The cost 
of the enterprise was a little 
over three thousand dollars. 
Besides correcting many false 
notions respecting Utah, the 
advertising did much to in- 
crease the population of the 
"harry" culmer. Territory within the next few 

years. 
Constitutional Convention of 1887. — The pacific influence 
wielded by the Chamber of Commerce brought about joint 
celebrations of Independence Day both in 1887 and 1888; but 
the"Gentiles" were not quite ready to join with the"Mormons" 
in an effort to secure Statehood. The Liberals having de- 
clined to take part, a Constitutional Convention elected by 
members of the People's Party assembled at Salt Lake City 
on the last day of June, 1887, and took the necessary steps 
toward applying for Utah's admission into the Union. The 
Convention was remarkable for the fact that it proposed to 
insert in the State Constitution an article prohibiting and 
punishing polygamy. Out of the sixty-nine delegates, John 
T. Caine was chosen chairman. The test oath prescribed by 
the Edmunds-Tucker Law was taken bv the officers and mem- 




RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 457 

bers. A State Constitution was. prepared, submitted to the 
people, ratified by an overwhelming vote, and sent to Wash- 
ing^ton. 

Opposition to Statehood. — The Utah Commission, or a 
majority of that body, in its next official report, characterized 
this movement for Statehood as an attempt to free the "Mor- 
mon" Church from the toils which the firm attitude of the 
Government and the energetic course of the Federal officers 
had thrown around it. It was represented that no concessions 
had been made as to polygamy, and that men were still re- 
ported as entering into the practice. Further radical legisla- 
tion against the "Mormons" was recommended. 

Dissenting Expressions. — Commissioners Carlton and Mc- 
Clernand refused to sign the report, giving their reasons in a 
separate communication to the Secretary of the Interior. 
"Now." said they, "while the great mass of the Mormon people 
are making an effort for the abandonment of the practice of 
polygamy, we are asked to recommend further legislation of 
a hostile and an aggressive character, almost if not entirely de- 
structive of local self-government, thereby inflicting punish- 
ment on the innocent as well as the guilty. Our answer is. 
we cannot do so; we decline to advise Congress to inflict pun- 
ishment by disfranchising any portion of the people of Utah 
on account of their religious or irreligious opinions." 

Chief Justice Zane, Surveyor General Bowman, Hadley 

D. Johnson, and other prominent "Gentiles" agreed with the 
minority of the Commission, that the existing laws against 
polygamy, diligently and strictly enforced, might reasonably 
be relied upon to work a cessation of the practice. Judge Zane 
declared that since the date of the Edmunds-Tucker Act no 
case of new polygamy had come under his notice. 

Liberals in the Legislature. — The Territorial Legislature 
convening early in January, 1888, had five Liberal members, 
namely, Thomas Marshall, John M. Young, Enos D. Hoge, of 
Salt Lake City; D. C. McLaughlin, of Park City; and Clarence 

E. Allen, of Bingham. Marshall and Young were in the Coun- 
cil, and their colleagues in the Llouse. With the exception of 
Mr. McLaughlin, who had sat in the previous Legislature, 
these were the first Liberals numbered among the law-makers 
of Utah. 

A New Marriage Law. — A new marriage law was enacted, 
prohibiting polygamy and requiring public records of all mar- 
riages to be kept in the offices of the County Clerks. The au- 
thority to solemnize marriages was restricted to civil magis- 
trates and to ministers and priests of religious denominations. 
These were to officiate only upon the presentation to them of 
licenses issued by the County Clerks to the contracting parties. 



458 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



This law, the bill for which was presented by Judg:e Uof^e, 
was a virtual re-enactment of similar provisions in the Ed- 
munds and Edmunds-Tucker statutes. 

Reform School and Agricultural College.— Among the 
bills passed by the Assembly and approved by the Governor, 
was one providing for the establishment of the Territorial Re- 
form School (now State Industrial School), and another for 
the founding of the Agricultural College; the former at Ogden, 
the latter at Logan. Both measures were framed and pre- 
sented by Honorable Anthon 
H. Lund, of Sanpete County. 
To establish these institutions 
and support others, such as the 
University of Deseret and the 
Asylum for the Insane (the lat- 
ter opened at Provo in 1885), 
Utah assumed her first bonded 
indebtedness — one hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. A third 
of this sum was appropriated to 
the University, and forty-five 
thousand dollars toward the 
improvement of Capitol Hill 
and the Tenth Ward Square, 
both of which properties had 
just been bestowed upon the 
Territory by the Corporation 
of Salt Lake City. 

A Fusion Movement. — At 
the approach of the Salt Lake 
City election in 1888, the lead- 
ers of the People's Party de- 
cided to tender to the Liberals 
four places upon the majority 
ticket that was about to be put in nomination. The motive 
l)ehind the act was stated as follows in a resolution unani- 
mously adopted by the People's Municipal Convention : "We 
desire to recognize the fact that our political opponents, though 
forming but a minority of the voting population, contribute 
to the public revenue by the payment of taxes, and include 
within their numbers many citizens who are permanent resi- 
dents of this City and Territory, and that they should there- 
fore be accorded fair representation in the management of 
public afifairs." The proposed fusion, though distasteful to 
some of the "Anti-Mormons," was accepted by a number of 
their prominent men and sanctioned by a two-thirds vote of 
the Chamber of Commerce. 




ANTIION H. LUND. 



RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 



459 



Governor West heartily favored the fusion movement, as 
did the editor of the Tribune and other stalwarts of the Lib- 
eral Party. At a meeting- called to consider the proposition, 
the Governor dwelt upon the necessity for a course of action 
that would give confidence to capital and attract settlers. He 
expressed the opinion that new population rather than laws of 
Congress would work the de- 
sired changes in Utah. Judge 
Goodwin remarked that it look- 
ed to him "like the dawn of a 
brighter day," and while some 
migfht regard the fusion as a 
political trick, still the Liberals 
had nothing to lose, and might 
gain much, by accepting the 
oflFer that had come from the 
other side. The anti-fusionists 
took the ground that the Peo- 
ple's Party was seeking affilia- 
tion with its opponents in order 
to prolong^ its own life, and 
they were unwilling to give it 
"one additional breath." The 
"unholy alliance" was de- 
nounced, and the Liberals were 
urged to poll their full strength 
for the straight "Gentile" 
ticket. 

At the election, on the 13th 
of February, the fusionists 
were victorious by a majority 

of eight hundred and sixty ; the total vote being 2.714. The 
four Liberals elected were William S. McCornick. John F. 
Dooly, M. B. Sowles. and Bolivar Roberts. The first two 
were in the banking business ; the others followed mercantile 
pursuits. Mr. McCornick was President of the Salt Lake 
Chamber of Commerce. He was elected Alderman, and his 
three colleagues Councilors, in the City Government. 

More Land Jumping. — While the election was in progress, 
an audacious attempt was made to seize upon some of the 
public lands belonging to Salt Lake City — lands entered under 
the Congressional Townsite Act, and including those for which 
the Government patent had been issued in 1872. The Legis- 
lature, under authority conferred by Congress, had decided 
that the old settlers were entitled to the lands they occupied, 
upon payment of original costs, with expense of survey ; 
the unocupied lands within the municipal limits to be held in 




Wir.LI.'NM S. MCCORNICK. 



460 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



trust by the Mayor, for the common use and benefit of the 
citizens. The City Authorities having failed to dispose of 
these lands, certain speculators thought they saw an oppor- 
tunity to enrich themselves at the public expense. It was a 
levival of the old land-jumping spirit that had troubled Utah 
in earlier times, notably the decade of the sixties. 

The person most prominent in this fresh attempt to despoil 
the City of its parks and other properties, was a Colorado real 

estate dealer, who had been at- 
tracted to Utah by "The 
Boom," as the period of pros- 
perity was termed that was be- 
ginning to be felt as the result 
of the labors of the Salt Lake 
Chamber of Commerce. An- 
other would-be posessor of the 
public lands was a young man 
who had figured in the local 
courts as a stenographer. The 
Coloradoan took possession of 
about thirty acres on Arsenal 
Hill, including the present 
Capitol Hill grounds ; while the 
stenographer contented himself 
with the Tenth Ward Square, 
a choice piece of realty in the 
very heart of the town, com- 
prising ten acres, originally de- 
signed for a park. During two 
days men were at work survey- 
ing tracts from Arsenal Hill 
northeastward, and to the vi- 
cinity of Ensign Peak, fencing 
the land with posts and wires. City Marshal Alfred Solomon 
warned them to desist, but they continued putting up tents 
and building shanties, until a small settlement seemed to have 
sprung up on the brow of the hill overlooking Salt Lake 
Valley. : ; 

Trespassers Ousted. — The City Authorities took the mat- 
ter coolly, thinking at first no additional immediate action on 
their part necessary. Afterwards, however, they decided to 
eject the land-jumpers, thus depriving them of any advantage 
that might accrue from actual possession of the property when 
the case came into court. Some of the attorneys consulted did 
not favor this summary action, but Mr. Joseph L. Rawlins 
strongly urged it. His advice was taken, and the City Council 




BOLIVAR ROBERTS. 



RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 



461 



authorized the Mayor, Francis Armstrong, to carry it into 
effect. 

Accordingly, on the morning of February 16th, Mayor 
Armstrong, with a posse of sixty men, regular and special 
police, proceeded to the camps on Arsenal Hill, and ordered the 
trespassers to vacate the lands forthwith. They demurred, and 
were then ousted by force, 
their shanties, tents and 
fences being demolished. 
Leaving some of his posse 
to watch the hill, the Mayor 
sent twenty officers to the 
Tenth Ward Square, where 
a notice had been posted, 
reading:: "This Land For 
Sale — Inquire Within". Two 
men who were plowing beat 
a hasty retreat on catching 
sight of the police, who tore 
down the notice, dropped the 
plow outside the field, and 
set a guard upon the 
grounds. Washington Square 
was seized about the same 
time, and Liberty Park and 
other properties were threat- 
ened. But the ejectment 
proceedings put a stop to 
further land-jumping. 

Law and Order Sus- 
tained. — Mayor Armstrong 

and his associates were arrested, charged with committing "a 
trespass." They had a hearing before United States Commis- 
sioner A. G. Norrell, who decided that they were not guilty. 
Subsequently Chief Justice Zane rendered a decision on the 
rightful ownership of the unsettled lands. He ruled in favor 
of the City, but held that those lands should be disposed of, as 
contemplated by the Legislature. Failure on the part of the 
municipal authorities to act promptly, however, did not justify 
individuals in seizing upon the public property. 

Gift and Sale of Lands. — Judge Zane's decision gave gen- 
eral satisfaction. On the day that it was rendered, Fel)ruary 
28, 1888. the Mayor and City Council conveyed as a gift to the 
Territory of Utah that portion of Arsenal Hill now called 
Capitol Hill, as a site for future State Buildings; also the 
Tenth Ward Square, with the understanding that it was to be 
used for permanent Fair Grounds. Most of the City's unoc- 




MAYOR ARMSTRONG. 



462 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

cupied lands were sold at auction during the next two years, 
and the proceeds turned into the public treasury.* 

New Federal Judges. — Toward the close of 1888, Utah 
was given a new Chief Justice in the person of Elliot Sand- 
ford, of New York; and at the same time a fourth magistrate, 
John W. Tudd, of Tennessee, was added to the Supreme 
Bench of the Territory. The recently appointed magistrates 
arrived at Salt Lake City in August of that year. 

Concerning Chief Justice Zane.— Commenting upon the 
retiring Chief Justice, whose term expired in September, the 
Dcseret News expressed itself thus : "There have been many 
things in Judge Zane's administration which have been for the 
best interests of society here, and for which we think he should 
and will receive due credit." "Apart from what we view as his 
anti-'Mormon' animus, Judge Zane has been one of the very 
best judges who has sat upon the bench in Utah." "He has 
usually exhibited the characteristics and qualities of a learned 
lawyer and an upright jurist. He has sustained the cause of 
law and order and the rights of the people, their municipal 
authorities, their school laws, and their city ordinances." "We 
entertain for him no ill will. We understand he intends to 
remain here and practice law. We hope he will achieve the 
success that his talents demand, and that he will find, in his 
experience among the 'Mormon' people, that they are not 
vindictive or revengeful, but ever ready to recognize merit and 
sincerely disposed to return good for evil." 

Forfeiture and Appeal.^ — ^During October the confiscation 
suits were again before the Supreme Court of the Territory. A 
petition was presented from the Church Trustees, Bishops 
Preston, Burton, and Winder, asking that the Temple Block, 

*That portion of Arsenal Hill now occupied by the Utah State 
Capitol, was the scene, in 1876, of a terrific explosion, which 
shook Salt Lake City to its foundations. It was late in the afternoon 
of April 5th when the explosion occurred, three heavy detonations, 
startling in their suddenness and almost deafening in sound, spreading 
dismay and confusion on every hand. Several minutes passed before 
the cause was divined, and meanwhile suspense made the terror ten- 
fold, men, women and children running hither and thither, excited, 
alarmed and hysterical. Walls were blown down, roofs torn off, doors 
and shutters flung from their fastenings, and window glass shattered 
and strewn broadcast. Presently the solution came. A huge cloud 
of smoke hovering over Arsenal Hill told the story. At a point near 
the present State Capitol three small stone houses, owned by mercan- 
tile firms and used for the storage of powder, had blown up, the fall- 
ing debris pelting the hillsides and various parts of the town. Sev- 
eral persons were killed and others wounded. The cause of the catas- 
trophe was never fully explained. It was supposed, however, that 
some boys, known to have been shooting in that neighborhood, had 
used the iron door of one of the magazines for a target, and were 
the first victims of the explosion that followed. 



RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 



463 



Tithing Ofiice, Gardo House, and Historian's Office properties 
lie exempted from forfeiture. This petition was denied, ex- 
cept as to Temple Block. Denial was also made to a petition 
from George Romney, Henry Dinwoody, James Watson and 
John Clark, who, as intervenors, had requested that an order 
be made returning all property then in the hands of the Re- 
ceiver to the individual members of the Church, who had 
voluntarily donated it for religious and charitable purposes. A 
decree of forfeiture having been entered, an appeal was taken 
to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

The Receiver's Compensation. — The question of compen- 
sation for the Receiver and his attorneys came before Referee 
E. T. Sprague, appointed by the Supreme Court of Utah to 
take testimony as to the value of the service rendered. Re- 
ceiver Dyer thought that his compensation should not be less 
than twenty-five thousand dollars; and his attorney, Mr. Wil- 
liams, and U. S. Attorney Peters each put in a claim for ten 
thousand dollars. Later, while the Supreme Court was con- 
sidering the question, Ex-Chief Justice Zane appeared in be- 
half of certain school trustees, who, fearing the property 
escheated for educational purposes was about to be wrongfully 
diverted, protested against the granting of such heavy fees. 
At the same time certain charges were made against the Re- 
ceiver and his legal advisers. This led to an inquiry before 
Examiner Robert Harkness, 
appointed for that special pur- 
pose. The Receiver was able 
to exonerate himself and his 
attorneys as to the charges; 
but the Supreme Court of the 
Territory, in March, 1889, 
basing its action upon an in- 
vestigation ordered by Attor- 
ney General Garland, decided 
the fees excessive, and they 
were reduced. Receiver Dyer 
was allowed ten thousand, Mr. 
Williams five thousand five 
hundred, and Mr. Peters four 
thousand dollars, for their 
services. These amounts, 
with other expenses, aggre- 
gating $27,36.r63, were paid 
out of the Church funds in the 
hands of the Receiver. 

A Day of Lenity Dawns. 
—From the hour of Judge fr.\ncis m. lyman. 




4()4 WHITNEY'S POl'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Sandford's installation, it was evident that judicial proceed- 
ings in Utah would be divested of all undue severity. Judge 
Zane had deemed heavy penalties necessary to the solu- 
tion of the plural marriage problem, but his successor held 
the opinion that some leniency should be shown. Like Judge 
Emerson, he was opposed to singling out any particular trans- 
gression and making special war upon it. "Treat it as any 

other offense," was the ex- 
pression of his attitude to- 
ward polygamy. Judge Judd 
was influenced ])y a similar 
spirit. 

As soon as it became 
known that a modified pro- 
cedure would prevail in the 
Federal Courts, many persons 
who had long evaded legal 
process surrendered them- 
selves and asked to be dealt 
with according to law. The 
first to pursue this course was 
President George Q. Cannon, 
who appeared before Chief 
Justice Sandford on the 17th 
of September, 1888, and plead- 
ed guilty to two indictments 
for unlawful cohabitation. On 
the first count he was fined 
two hundred dollars, and 
sentenced to the Penitentiary 
for seventy-five days ; on the 
second count a fine of two 
imposed, with imprisonment 
Francis M. Lyman, of the 




WARDEN PRATT. 



hundred and fifty dollars was 
for one hundred days. Elder 
Council of the Twelve, surrendered in like manner, pleading 
guilty to unlawful cohabitation, for which he had been in- 
dicted five times. Four of the indictments were dismissed, and 
upon the remaining one he was fined two hundred dollars 
and costs, and sentenced to eighty-five days in the Territorial 
prison. The date of this judgment was January 14, 1889. 

Penitentiary Improvements. — Important and much needed 
improvements had recently taken place at the Utah Peni- 
tentiary. With means appropriated by Congress for the pur- 
pose, new buildings, steam-heated and otherwise well ap- 
pointed, had been erected in the old prison yard, and the log 
hovels and other primitive appurtenances had entirely dis- 
appeared. New cells had been constructed, lavatories and 



R11<TS IN TIIK CLOUD. 



465 



other conveniences provided, and though the discipline was 
stricter than ever, the place was clean and wholesome ancl, 
the inmates far more comfortable than they had been. Arthur 
Pratt, a Utah man, was the efficient Warden of the improved 
institution.* 

Judge Sandford Criticized. — Chief Justice Sandford was 
much criticized for his leniency. In the eyes of the "Ultras," 
he was an enemy to progress. But he steadily held on his 
way, doing his duty conscientiously and humanely, regardless 
of the censure heaped upon him. He was not the only public 
official blamed for showing lenity toward the convicted "Mor- 
mons." Even the President of the United States did not 
escape. 

Number of Convictions and Pardons. — Delegate Dubois, 
of Idaht), introduced a resolution in the House of Representa- 
tives, requesting the Attorney General to furnish a list of 
pardons granted by President Cleveland to persons convicted 
of unlawful cohabitation in Utah and Idaho. The resolution 
having been adopted, the Department of Justice reported, 




NEW PENITENTIARY OR STATE PRISON. 



*Mr. Pratt is Warden of the State Prison at tlie present time 
(1916). He deserves nuich credit for his wise and efficient manage- 
ment of the institution. Long ago he abolished the humiliating stripes 
in which convicts were clothed, and is noted for his humane efforts to 
reclaim wrong-doers placed in his charge. 

2Q 



4(>o WIIITNKV'S rol'UI.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

September 13, 1888, that the number of convictions under the 
anti-polygamy statutes — mostly for unlawful cohabitation — 
was five hundred for Utah, and eighty-nine for Idaho; and 
that the total of pardons for both Territories was fourteen. 
In Utah fines and costs collected in such cases amounted to 
$45,956.90; and in Idaho to $2,251.10; these amounts not in- 
cluding the $25,000, forfeited in the Cannon case. It was 
shown that no pardon had been granted except upon the rec- 
ommendation of the United States Attorney prosecuting the 
case, nor unless the person pardoned was aged, ailing, or 
otherwise clearly entitled to clemency. 

The Case of Hans Nielsen, — Judge Judd's most import- 
ant trial while on the Utah Bench was that of Hans Nielson, 
charged with unlawful cohabitation and adultery ; the former 
under the Edmunds Act, the latter under the Edmunds-Tucker 
Law. The two ofTenses were in reality one, the woman in the 
afifair being the defendant's plural wife, with whom he had 
lived from October 15, 1885, to September 27, 1888; the latter 
being the date of both indictments. Instead of charging one 
continuous offense, covering the entire period, the Grand Jury 
had first indicted Nielson for unlawful cohabitation from Oc- 
tober 15, 1885, to May 13, 1888; and had then brought in a 
bill for adultery, alleged to have been committed by the de- 
fendant with this same wife on May 14th — the very next day. 

The trial on the first indictment took place in November 
of that year ; the court being held at Provo. Convicted of un- 
lawful cohabitation, Nielson was fined one hundred dollars 
and costs and sentenced to three months imprisonment. Hav- 
ing satisfied this judgment, he was brought to trial on the 
second indictment. His former conviction was pleaded as a 
bar to further prosecution, but a demurrer to that plea was 
sustained by the Court, and the defendant, again convicted, 
was sent back to the Penitentiary; this time for four months. 
The Court denied an application for a writ of habeas corpus, 
and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United 
States, where it was heard in the latter part of April, and de- 
cided on the 13th of May, 1889. The decision, voiding the 
judgment of the trial court, held that a person could not be 
convicted of two dififerent offenses covered by the same trans- 
action. 

Nielson was immediately released, as were several other 
persons who had been convicted in like manner and were 
serving sentences in the Penitentiary. One of these was Bishop 
William H. Maughan, of Wellsville. The Nielson case had 
been tried with the understanding that it would test all other 
cases of like character, and be passed upon by the Supreme 
Court at Washington. 



RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 



467 



Howard Spencer's Acquittal. — While assistinq- in the 
Third District Court, Judge Judd presided at the trial of 
Howard Spencer, indicted for the killing of Sergeant Ralph 
Pike in August, 1859, as set forth in Chapter Sixteen of this 
History. Spencer's trial took place at Salt Lake City in May 
1889; United States Attorney Peters, assisted by Ogden Hiles, 
conducting the prosecution ; 
and Arthur Brown, Sheeks 
and Rawlins, and Le Grande 
Young appearing for the de- 
fense. Most of the jurors 
were "Gentiles." The defend- 
ant was acquitted. The ver- 
dict, though displeasing to the 
Judge, who expressed his dis- 
satisfaction from the Bench, 
was applauded in the court 
room and approved by the 
general public. 

Three Candidates for 
Congress. — The autumn of 
1888 found three candidates in 
the field for Delegate to Con- 
gress. They were John T. 
Caine, renominated by the 
People's Party; Robert N. 
Baskin, the Liberal nominee ; 
and Samuel R. Thurman, rep- 
resenting "The Democratic 
Party of the Territory of 
Utah," otherwise known as 
The last-named organization, 




S. R. THURMAN. 

"The Sagebrush Democracy." 
which had just been formed, 



was of meager membership, though comprising some well 
known names, "Mormon" and "Gentile." Short-lived and 
seemingly barren of results, it nevertheless made an impression 
en the politics of the period, foreshadowing events that were 
tc follow. The Liberal Convention was held at Park City, and 
that of the People's Party at the Territorial capital, where 
the Democrats also assembled. Delegate Caine was again 
chosen. His election took place simultaneously with the great 
national contest that returned to power the Republican Party, 
with Benjamin Harrison as President. 

The Statehood Question. — The Constitution of the pro- 
posed State of Utah, prepared in 1887, with a memorial asking 
for admission into the Union, had been presented to Congress 
in January, 1838. Senate and House each referred the matter to 
its Committee on Territories. The Senate Committee disposed 



468 WHITNEY'S POPUT.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

of it in March of that year, when Senator Cullom reported 
a resolution to the effect that Utah ought not to be admitted 
as a State until it was certain that the practice of polygamy 
had been entirely abandoned by the inhabitants of the Terri- 
tory, and that the civil affairs thereof were no longer controlled 
by the priesthood of the "Mormon" Church. The Committee 
was discharged from further consideration of the question : 

The House Committee took it up in January, 1889. To 
oppose Statehood, the Liberals had sent to Washington Robert 
N. Baskin and John R. McBride, and they were zealously as- 
sisted by the "Anti-Mormon" Delegate from Idaho. Governor 
West, E. P. Ferry and P. H. Lannan were also at the capital 
that winter, and the Governor took part in the proceedings 
before the Committee. On the other side were Delegate Caine, 
Franklin S. Richards, Jeremiah M. Wilson (a Washington 
lawyer), Delegate Mark A. Smith and Ex-Delegate Bean, both 
of Arizona. President Joseph F. Smith, John W. Young, and 
Charles W. Penrose were likewise at the seat of Govern- 
ment, using their influence for Statehood. While he was 
in Washington, Mr. Penrose, who had been indicted for a 
minor infraction of the Edmunds Law, received special am- 
nesty from President Cleveland, just before his retirement 
from offfce. 

During one of the sessions of the House Committee, in 
reply to Mr. F. S. Richards, who had called attention to the 
achievements of the Utah Pioneers, Judge McBride asserted 
that "there never was a more inviting country than Utah when 
the Mormons went there." He claimed to have passed through 
Solt Lake Valley on his way to Oregon, before the arrival of 
the Pioneers. Said he : "I have had my moccasins wet with 
the dew on the grass while riding through the meadows of that 
\'alley before it was settled." 

This attempt to depreciate the founders of the Territory 
and minimize their service to civilization, was not particularh- 
pleasing even to McBride's own partisans. Governor West, 
one of the subsequent speakers, evidently had it in mind when 
he addressed the Committee, saying: 'T shall not arraign 
the Mormon people as wanting in religious devotion, virtue, 
honesty, sobriety, industry, and the graces and qualities that 
adorn, beautify and bless life ; nor will I attempt to detract 
from the praise and glory that are due or claimed for the 
hardy Pioneers who settled and reclaimed that land." In his 
opinion, however, none of these things could justify "the des- 
potism of the Mormon political system," and until that was a 
thing of the past he was opposed to the admission of Utah as a 
State. The Governor had previously spoken of "marked and 



RIFTS IN THE CLOUD. 469 

decided changes" for the better, mentioning the labors of the 
Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and the giving to the "Gen- 
tiles," l)y the "Mormons," of representation in the government 
(.){ their capital city, and on the boards controlling the Asylum 
for the Insane, the University of Deseret, the Reform School, 
Agricultural College, and Territorial Fair. He further 
slated that the last Legislative Assembly had enacted liberal 
laws for cities, enabling them to make loans and issue bonds 
for sewerage and additional water supplies. 

Delegate Caine referred to conditions in Utah, and Dele- 
gate Dubois portrayed the situation in Idaho, where, he said, 
"Mormons" were severing their connection with the Church 
in order to retain the privileges of citizenship. Judge Baskin 
repeated charges that he had often made against the "Mormon" 
jiriesthood and people, and Messrs. Bean and Smith defended 
tb.em. judge ^Vilson advocated Statehood as the best means 
of solving the vexed problem. He replied to the argument ad- 
vanced by the other side, that the submitted Constitution con- 
tained provisions (such as the proposed punishment of poly- 
gamy) that would deprive Utah, if admitted into the Union, ot 
that ecjuality that should exist among the different States, and 
showed that Congress had power to enforce the special con- 
tract. 

The main argument against Utah's admission was the al- 
leged insincerity of the "Mormon" people. Their recent acts of 
liberality toward political opponents, public movements and 
institutions, were declared to l3e calculating concessions, made 
to secure Statehood and perpetuate the tyrannous power of the 
Church. The anti-polygamy clauses in the proposed Consti- 
tution were "a rope of sand." The Territory should not be 
admitted until polygamy had l)een entirely abandoned, and 
civil affairs taken from the control of the Priesthood. 

The admission of all the Territories as States had been 
urged by the "Mormon' delegation at the capital, and Presi- 
dent Cleveland seemed to favor the proposition; but the preju- 
dice in Congress against Utah was too thick to be penetrated 
by those who were then working for her political sovereignty. 
After several weeks of deliberation, the House Committee on 
Territories reported favorably upon the admission of. Idaho, 
Arizona, and Wyoming; but omitted from its recommendation 
the fairest and most eligible of all the dependent common- 
wealths — Utah, the Cinderella of the National Household. 

Incoming and Outgoing Officials. — ^Within six months 
after his inauguration (March 4, 1889). President Harrison 
removed most of the Democrats holding Federal offices in 
Utah, and filled the places with Republicans. Caleb W. West 
was succeeded as Governor bv Arthur L. Thomas; and Wil- 



470 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

liam C. Hall as Secretary by Elijah Sells. Governor Thomas' 
place as a member of the Utah Commission was given to Alvin 
Saunders, of Nebraska. Commissioner Carlton had resigned 
in April, and Robert S. Robertson, of Indiana, had been ap- 
pointed in his stead. The next chairman of the Commission 
was Mr. Godfrey. An official change that caused more com- 
ment than all the others combined was the removal of Chief 
Justice Sandford and the reappointment of his predecessor. 
Chief of Justice Zane. This news was telegraphed from Wash- 
ington on the 24th of May. Judge Zane's return to office was 
accepted as an indication of the attitude of the new Adminis- 
tration toward Utah. It was the removal of Sandford, how- 
ever, rather than the reappointment of Zane, that occasioned 
the widespread comment. 

President Harrison's "Policy,"— Judge Sandford had writ- 
ten out his resignation soon after Harrison was inaugurated, 
but yielding to the solicitation of prominent members of the 
Utah Bar, he had refrained from sending it to Washington. 
Two months later he was requested to resign. Thereupon he 
wrote to Attorney-General Miller, asking if any charges of 
official misconduct had been filed against him, at the same 
time expressing the opinion that if such charges had been 
made, it would be improper for him to resign until they were 
met. If, however, a change was necessary for merely political 
reasons, he would send in his resignation as soon as practic- 
able. The answer was his removal, accompanied by a state- 
ment that papers were on file in the Department of Justice 
complaining of the manner in which he had discharged his 
official duties. "Independently of these particular complaints," 
added the Attorney-General, "the President has become sat- 
isfied that your administration of the office is not in harmony 
with the policy he deems proper to be pursued with reference 
to Utah affairs." 

Judge Sandford's Reply. — Judge Sandford made the fol- 
lowing rejoinder: "My earnest purpose while on the Bench, 
as Chief Justice of this Territory, has been to administer jus- 
tice and the laws honestly and impartially to all men, under 
the obligations of my oath of office. If the President of the 
United States has any policy which he desires a Judge of the 
Supreme Court to carry out in reference to Utah affairs other 
than the one I have pursued, you may say to him that he has 
done well to remove me." 

The Attorney-General's remark upon the "policy" that 
President Harrison deemed proper to be pursued by Federal 
Tn(k>es, called forth much criticism, particularly from Demo- 
cratic sources. The idea that magistrates chosen to admin- 
ister law and mete out justice were but factotums of the 



kll'TS l.\ Till': CLOUD. 471 

National Administration — "the Judiciary a mere catspaw for 
the Executive," as Judge Judd put it — was severely satirized. 
For many days the country resounded with a journalistic l)om- 
bardment, pouring the hot shot of protest and denunciation in 
the direction of the White House. Judge Sandford's dignified 
response was in everybody's mouth, and the letter containing 
it probably did more for its author's fame than any other act 
of his life. 

Judge Zane and Associates — Other Federal Appointees. — 
Chief Justice Zanc returned to the Bench on the third day of 
June. His course from that time was not what many feared 
it would be. He seemed actuated by a more conservative 
spirit, and his known respect for law and order, with the gen- 
eral uprightness of his character, made him acceptable to 
"Mormons" and "Gentiles" alike Associate Justices Thomas 
J. Anderson and Henry P. Henderson were among the few 
Democrats whom President Harrison allowed to remain in 
office. Judge Anderson was originally from Illinois, but at 
the time of his appointment, a resident of Washington, D. C. 
He had succeeded Judge Boreman, who became Utah's Com- 
missioner of Schools, succeeding Parley T.. Williams in that 
position, the power to fill which had been vested by Congress 
in the Supreme Court of the Territory. 

District Attorney Peters and Marshal Dyer were the next 
(fficials to retire. The former was succeeded by Charles S. 
A^arian, and the latter by Elias H. Parsons, both appointed in 
the summer of that year. Judge Judd resigned, but remained 
in Utah, and a few years later became United States Attorney 
for the Territory. His successor as Associate Justice was 
John W Blackburn. 

Ogden Goes Liberal. — The Liberal Part}- had been grad- 
ually gaining ground in some parts of Utah, and it now elected 
Uiv the first time the municipal government of the second chv 
in the Territory. An important railroad center. Ogden for 
many years had had a varied population. Early in 1880 the 
Liberals prepared to carry the town. Their campaign man- 
ager was Harvey W. Smith, alias "Kentucky" Smith, a trained 
politician and a lawyer of much ability, the reputed author of 
the Idaho test oath law. Election day was the 11th of Feb- 
ruary. The Liberals won by a majority of over four hundred : 
Mr. Fred J. Kiesel heading the victorious ticket as Mavor. A 
pandemonium of rejoicing followed, such as the Junction City 
had never known. 

A Prophetic Majority. — .At the August election, which was 
for countv officers and members of the Legislature. Ogden 
pgain went Liberal, though with two hundred less majority 
than before. Juab Countv was carried hv a coalition of Lib- 



\71 W lJlTNr:Y'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



erals and Independents, and Summit County by the usual 
Lilieral majority. That party elected eight members of the 
Legislature. Its greatest cause for rejoicing, however, was a 
majority of forty-one votes, cast at Salt Lake City. Great 
was the jubilation when this fact became known. The Ogden 
demonstration was insignificant by comparison. The Liberal 

managers now laid their plans 
to take the Territorial capital. 
Drastic Recommendations. 
— The Utah Commission, in its 
annual report, September, 1889, 
repeated some of its former 
recommendations, and added 
others which, if enacted into 
laws, would have made of Utah 
a veritable slave pen, with little 
or nothing left to the majority 
of the people beyond the priv- 
ilege of breathing and paying 
taxes. They were not only to 
l)c disfranchised, but also de- 
Ivirred from the advantages of 
the homestead laws. The 
founders of the commonwealth, 
were to be treated as outlaws, 
lorded over by petty satraps 
chosen from the ranks of a 
liostile minority, wielding despotic powers and having the sons 
and daughters of the Pioneers as their manservants and maid- 
servants, their hewers of wood and drawers of water! But 
such an infamy was not to be. 

All the Commissioners but one signed this report. Brave 
old General McClernand stood out alone, refusing to put his 
name to the drastic document. He maintained that the ex- 
isting laws against polygamous practices were working well 
enough, and that further legislation trenching upon civil and 
political privileges and religious convictions, would be in- 
jurious rather than beneficent. 

Governor Thomas. — In October Governor Arthur L. 
Thomas made his first report to the Secretary of the Interior. 
Estimating the population of the Territory at 230.000 — a cal- 
culation subsequently shown to be excessive — he stated that 
the number of "Gentiles" had largely increased as the result 
of "The Boom."* Outside of Salt Lake City, Ogden, the min- 




MAYOR KIESEL. 



*The wave of material prosperity that went by that name was 
cliaracterizcd l)y a sucldon inflation of values, particular!}' in real 
estate. Then followed the inevitable depression, and while some were 
enriched, others were financially ruined. 



RIFTS TN THE CLOUD. 



473 



ing camps and small railroad towns, the "Mormons" were in 
the majority. In all l)ut one of the twenty-four counties, and 
in 255 of the 278 election precincts, the "Gentiles" were in the 
minority at the last election. The "Mormons" were mainly 
agriculturists, owning most of 
the land and water, and there- 
fore owning Utah. They were 
industrious, frugal, and easily 
governed, particularly by their 
Church leaders, a firm religious 
enthusiasm being their leading- 
characteristic. The Governor 
cited various measures sug- 
gested for the solution of the 
"Mormon Problem," and ex- 
pressed the opinion that "any 
temporizing policy" which left 
the Church "in a position to 
control the politics of the Ter- 
ritory" was "only delaying the 
final settlement." 

A Solution at Hand. — 
What was meant by "the final 
settlement." the Governor did 
not say. A settlement was at 
hand which probably surprised 
him as much as anyone — a so- 
lution unlooked for either by "Mormons" or "Gentiles," and 
more generally acceptable, perhaps, than any other that could 
have been proposed. 




GOVERNOR THOMAS 



XXXII. 
THE END OF A CYCLE. 

1889-1891. 

A New Order of Things. — The decade of the "nineties" 
witnessed the dawn of a new era in Utah. One event alone 
sufficed to introduce a new order of things. That event was 
the issuance by the "Mormon" President, and the acceptance 
by the "Mormon" people, of the famous "Manifesto," with- 




George Q. Cannon. Joseph F. Smith. VVilford Woodruff. 

PRESIDENT WOODRUFF AND COUNSELORS. 

drawing sanction from the further solemnization of plural mar- 
riages. The head of the Church at that time was Wilford 
Woodruff, a Pioneer of 1847, and senior member of the Coun- 
cil of the Twelve at the death of President John Taylor. By 
virtue of this seniority, he had succeeded to the Presidency in 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 475 

April, 1889, choosing George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith 
as his counselors, thus placing them in the same relative posi- 
tions that they had formerly held. Before the subject of the 
Manifesto is presented, several earlier happenings must re- 
ceive attention from the historian. 

The Case of Auditor and Treasurer. — The opening of the 
new decade brought to a close the controversy between the 
Governor and the Legislature over the right to appoint certain 
Territorial officers. As previously shown. Section Seven of 
the Organic Act authorized the Executive to nominate, and. 
by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council, 
appoint all officers not otherwise provided for in that statute. 
Among those "not otherwise provided for" were the Auditor 
and Treasurer. These officers, with others. Governor Mur- 
ray had claimed the right to appoint. The Legislature denied 
the claim, basing its action upon one of its own laws, which 
had been tacitly approved by Congress. The Utah courts 
sustained the Governor, deciding that his appointees, Arthur 
Pratt and Bolivar Roberts, should have the offices; and from 
that decision Auditor Nephi W. Clayton and Treasurer James 
Jack, who had been elected by the people, appealed to the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. The case of the Territorial 
Superintendent of Schools, originally a part of the same con- 
troversy, had been eliminated by the Edmunds Tucker Act. 
which abolished that office. 

The Court's Decree. — It was on the 6th of January, 1890. 
that the Court at Washington rendered its decision, ruling 
against the appellants, Clayton and Jack, and affirming the 
Governor's right to nominate the Territorial Auditor and 
Treasurer. The law of 1878, under which the incumbents were 
elected, was held to be in conflict with the Organic Act, and 
therefore void, and in the absence of action by the Council 
upon the Governor's nominees, the latter were entitled to the 
places. Accordingly, Mr. Pratt became Auditor, and Mr. Rob- 
erts Treasurer. They recovered the salaries paid to the in- 
cumbents since the beginning of the contest. The latter, for 
services as de facto Auditor and Treasurer, were subsequently 
reimbursed by Legislative appropriation, but the expense of 
the litigation was borne by themselves. 

Idaho's Test Oath Sustained. — Another important issue 
pending at Washington involved the validity of the Idaho test 
oath law, by which the "Mormons" in that Territory had all 
been disfranchised. Under this law electors were required 
to swear that they were neither polygamists nor members of 
an organization which taught, advised, counseled, or encour- 
aged Tts members to practice polygamy. The final test was 
made in a case entitled the People versus Samuel D. Davis, 



476 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

the defendant in which had been prosecuted in the Third Dis- 
trict Court of Idaho for conspiracy. He was not a polygamist, 
but had taken the test oath and procured registration as a 
voter while holding membership in the "Mormon" Church. 
Having- been convicted, he was fined five hundred dollars, and 
in default of payment was sentenced to imprisonment for two 
hundred and fifty days in the Oneida County Jail. Habeas 
corpus proceedings followed, with an appeal to the Supreme 
Court of the Nation, which heard the case in December, 1889. 
Counsel for the appellant contended that a law making Church 
membership a crime was unconstitutional, invading the do- 
main of conscience and making a man an offender for his 
religious belief. This was met by the argument that the "Mor- 
mon" Church taught and practiced polygamy, which was a 
crime; and that membership in that Church was not mere 
belief, but action, and action was a rightful subject for legisla- 
tion. The Court's decision, delivered by Mr. Justice Field. 
February 3rd, 1890, affirmed the constitutionality of the test 
oath law. and sustained the judgment of the lower court in 
refusing to liberate the prisoner on habeas corpus. In Utah, 
as well as in Idaho, this ruling created a profound sensation. 
The "Mormons" were astounded; the "Anti-Mormons" jubi- 
lant. 

An Exciting Campaign. — Hie news, flashed westward, 
found Salt Lake City in the throes of a political campaign, the 
most exciting that the town had ever experienced. Since the 
previous autumn the utmost activity had been shown by the 
two parties that were about to contest at the ballot box for 
the ofificial control of the Utah capital. Clubs were formed, 
campaign songs composed and sung, torch-light processions 
paraded the streets, and indoor and outdoor orators fired the 
1 eart of the multitude. On either side unprecedented enthusi- 
asm was awakened. General Connor, "The Father of the 
Liberal Party," was made its nominal leader for this campaign ; 
but the real leader was Judge Orlando W. Powers, ex-Associ- 
ate Justice, brilliant lawyer and orator, and one of the ablest 
political generals in the West. Judge Powers had been placed 
in charge of the Liberal forces at Salt Lake City soon after the 
party's victory at Ogden, and he was now looked to for guid- 
ance in the most important contest of its history. The People's 
Partv voters were marshaled under the direction of Franklin 
S. Richards and Richard W\ Young, both native sons of Utah, 
and able members of the bar. 

Registrars and Registration. — Registration of voters for 
the election began early in November, 1889. Prior to that 
time the Utah Commission had appointed its chief clerk, Henry 
Page, City Registrar. Page had for deputies in the five 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 477 

municipal precincts, H. S. McCallum, E. R. Clute, J. R- 
Morris, R. D. Winters, and Eouis Hyanis, all intense Liberal 
partisans, four of whom — Clute, Morris, Winters, and Hyams 
— were about to be placed upon the Liberal ticket as candi- 
dates. The People's Party was given no representation among 
the registration officers. 

Political Colonization. — Each side charged the other with 
attempts to colonize voters; that is, to induce people dwelling 
in outside places to move into the City temporarily, for the 
purpose of registering and voting. It was both charged and 
proved that some of the deputy registrars hired a special 
train and ran it on a midnight expedition down the Denver and 
■Rio Grande Railroad as far as the Colorado line, where non- 
resident section hands were registered for the Salt Lake City 
election. This exposure was made by Captain Bonfield, former 
Inspector of Police for Chicago, who had been employed, with 
a force of detectives, to ferret out the frauds. Most of the 
names secured in the manner described were afterwards found 
upon the voting lists of the Second Precinct, for which E. R. 
Clute was Registrar. Judge Powers repudiated the clandes- 
tine expedition, undertaken as he claimed during his absence 
from town, and he also affirmed that none of the non-resident 
v.'orkingmen voted at the election. 

Called to Account: — =The Registrars having been accused 
of discriminating against voters of the People's Party, the 
chairman of the Utah Commission — then absent with his asso- 
ciates from the Territory — was communicated with by tele- 
graph and asked to interfere. Three of the Commissioners 
came to Salt Lake City and heard complaints against the 
Registrars. At the close of the hearing the latter were en- 
joined to allow no bias, prejudice, or partisanship to influence 
their acts. The Commissioners then went their way, and the 
Registrars pursued theirs. 

Wells Versus Winters. — In many instances People's Party 
voters, already registered, but against whom gossip may 
have wagged its tongue, were notified that unless they re- 
qualified by again taking the registration oath, their names 
would be stricken from the voting lists. Among those who 
received this notification was the future Governor of the State 
of Utah. Heber M. Wells, a native born citizen, well known to 
be the husband of but one wife, and a young man of promi- 
nence holding the office of City Recorder. Mr. Wells made 
the following reply : 

"Salt Lake City, Utah, Decemlier 21, 1889. 
"R. D. Winters Esq., Registrar Fourth Precinct: 

"Dear Sir: I beg to acknowledge receipt of yours without (late, 
notifying me that owing to certain information coming to you regard- 



478 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

ing my (lisqualificalion to remain longer on the registry of the Fourth 
Precinct, you would strike my name from the list unless I appear dur- 
ing the week commencing the 23rd inst., and requalify by taking and 
subscribing the oath anew. 

"I am not advised as to the character of the information you refer 
to, but I now notify you that any and all information alleging or inti- 
mating other than that I am a native born citizen of the United States, 
over the age of twenty-one, and qualified in every respect to register 
and vote, is utterly and totally false; and I hereby warn you that if 
you strike my name from the list upon any pretext whatever, you do 
so at your peril, and I shall immediately begin proceedings against 
you to test in the courts your right to exercise what I consider a high- 
handed and impertinent assumption of authority. 

"Respectfully, 

"HEBER M. WELLS." 

The warning proved effectual; Registrar Winters making 
no further attempt to deprive Mr. Wells of his right to vote. 

Political Indictments. — Another card played in this 
shrewd political game was the procurement of indictments 
against a number of the officers of Salt Lake City and County. 
These indictments, based upon trumped up charges, were 
allowed to hang over the defendants — People's Party men — 
all during the campaign. After the election, having served 
their purposes, they were dimissed. 

Applications for Citizenship. — Many bona fide residents 
had not been naturalized, and to pass upon applications for 
citizenship Associate Justice Anderson held special sessions 
of court at Salt Lake City. "Mormon" applicants were ques- 
tioned as to their belief in polygamy, and if they admitted 
such a belief they were objected to as "men of immoral char- 
acter." Inquiries made of other applicants concerning sexual 
practices outside the marriage relation, were characterized by 
the objectors as "superfluous and absurd." 

Allegations respecting a ceremony which was said to re- 
quire from everyone passing through the Endowment House 
an oath of hostility to the United States Government, were 
made the basis of a contention that no member of the "Mor- 
mon" Church should be admitted to citizenship. To prove 
these allegations, a deaf and partly daft old man named Martin 
Wardell was put upon the witness stand. He described what 
purported to be the "Mormon" death penalty, "Blood Atone- 
ment," and told how it was visited upon apostates and un- 
friendly "Gentiles." He cited the case of one William Green, 
who, according to Wardell, was killed by "Danites" in 1862. 
It proved to be a figment of the old man's imagination — and 
that he was "visionary" and "imagined strange things," his 
own relatives testified; for the reported dead man turned out 
to be alive. Mr. Green, who was a fair-minded "outsider," 
forwarded from Spanish Fork his affidavit, which of course 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 479 

refuted the sensational story. But the document did not arrive 
until after the close of the proceedings before Judge Anderson. 

Editor Penrose Imprisoned. — During the examination 
prominent "Mormons" testified that there was nothing trea- 
sonable or antagonistic toward the Government in the doc- 
trines of their Church, nor in the ceremonies of the Endow- 
ment House. The Church laws were only ecclesiastical, and 
the extreme penalty inflicted under them was excommunica- 
tion. For refusing to answer, as irrelevant, the question : 
"How many wives have you?" Editor Penrose, of the Deserel 
News, was charged with contempt. He did not deny it, and 
was sent to the Penitentiary, where he remained about a week, 
and was then given his liberty, the investigation having closed. 

No "Mormon" Need Apply. — Judge Anderson, in a de- 
cision rendered on the last day of November. 1889, denied the 
applications of John Moore and Walter J. Edgar for citizen- 
ship, on the ground that they had been through the Endow- 
ment House and had there taken an oath of hostility to the 
Government. Nine others were rejected because they were 
members of the "Mormon" Church, though they had never 
been through the Endowment House, and were not even ac- 
cused of taking any disloyal oath or obligation. 

Chief Justice Zane, in whose district the examination had 
been held, announced from the bench that Judge Anderson's 
decision would be respected "for the present." It was evi- 
dently a bitter dose for this naturally upright magistrate to 
swallow. But the "Mormon Problem" must be solved, and u 
was therefore decreed that Church membership, so far as the 
Latter-day Saints were concerned, disqualified aliens for citi- 
zenship. 

The Liberal Victory. — The rival tickets having been nom- 
inated, rousing ratifications were held, mammoth spectacular 
parades adding to the general interest felt over the approach- 
ing contest at the polls. The election fell upon Monday, the 
10th of February. The Liberals swept all, or nearly all, be- 
fore them, electing the Mayor, Recorder, Assessor and Col- 
lector, Treasurer, Marshal, and most of the Councilmen and 
Justices of the Peace. The People's Party carried two pre- 
cincts, electing six members of the City Council. The Mayor- 
elect, George M. Scott, merchant, had a majority of eight hun- 
dred and eight votes over Spencer Clawson, the candidate of 
the People. Judge Powers, for his efficient service in conduct- 
ing the campaign, was publicly thanked by his fellow Liberals 
and presented with a check for ten thousand dollars. 

A Wrong Righted. — It had been customary under the old 
City Charter to elect five Aldermen and nine Councilors, who 



480 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

w^ere chosen, like the Mayor and other general officers, at 
large. But under a new law — the Municipal Corporation Act 
of 1888 — the City Council had been made to consist of fifteen 
Councilmen, who were to be chosen in their respective pre- 
cincts. It was this provision that gave the People their vic- 
tory in the Third and Fourth precincts. \\"hen. however, 
their six Councilmen applied for certificates to the Secretary of 
the Territory (who was also Secretary of the Utah Commis- 
sion), he held that the old law had governed at this election, 
and that the members of the City Council had been chosen at 
large. He therefore refused the application of the six Council- 
men — in fact, had already given certificates to the other candi- 
dates. 

The District Court was then appealed to, and Judge Zane 
evinced his usual willingness to right the wrong. Straight- 
way he ordered the issuance of a peremptory writ of mandate, 
requiring Secretary Sells to furnish the certificates to the men 
whom the voters had chosen. But an appeal was taken to the 
Supreme Court of the Territory, and meanwhile the new City 
Government was organized; the defeated Liberals being sworn 
in with the others. "The law's delay," if not "the insolence of 
office," kept them in place during the greater part of the term 
for which their opponents had been elected. Eventually, how- 
ever, the usurpers were ousted, and the right men installed, 
luirsuant to the Supreme Court decision. The men elected 
were Richard W. Young, W. J. Tuddenham, J. Fewson Smith, 
Oscar H. Hardy, Frank H. Hyde, and Eli A. Folland. 

The Free School System.— In March, 1890, the Legislature 
enacted a law presiding ft^r a uniform system of free schools 
throughout Utah. This law consolidated into one school dis- 
trict every city of the first class, or those having a population 
of over twenty thousand ; and every city of the second class, 
or those having a population between five thousand and twenty 
thousand. Salt Lake, the only city of the first class, had con- 
sisted of twenty-two school districts, each controlled by its 
own board. These twenty-two districts now became one, with 
the power to elect two trustees from each municipal ward ; 
and these, with the Mayor as ex-officio chairman, were to con- 
stitute the School Board. 

"A Rascal and a Wretch." — At the first free school elec- 
tion, held in July of that year, the Liberals carried four of the 
five Salt Lake City precincts, electing a majority of the Board 
of Education. Their victory in the Fourth Precinct, however, 
was the result of a gross fraud — the deliberate substitution of 
Liberal ballots for People's ballots by one of the judges of 
election, thus causing the defeat of Richard W. Young, whose 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 481 

office went to his opponent. The person immediately respon- 
sible for this piece of rascality was a Colorado man, William 
J. Allen, one of an army of transients who had recently drifted 
into Utah. Proofs of his guilt having been obtained, he was 
arrested and examined before United States Commissioner 
Greenman, who discharged him on the ground that the evi- 
dence was not strong enough to warrant his detention. 

Judge Zane thought differently. The matter came before 
him in a suit instituted by Captain Young for the recovery of 
the office out of which he had been defrauded. The Judge, 
having heard the arguments, decided that Young was elected. 
He then called the attention of the Grand Jury to the conduct 
of Allen, whom he termed "a rascal and a wretch" who had 
attempted "to overthrow the expression of the people's will," 
thereby committing "a. crime akin to treason." He also urged 
the Grand Jury to investigate the conduct of H. S. McCallum, 
ex-deputy registrar, who had caused Allen to be chosen a judge 
of election. Allen was indicted and tried, but escaped con- 
viction, and immediately left the Territory. McCallum was 
not called to account, except at the bar of public opinion. 
Captain Young secured his office, and served as a member of 
the Board of Education. 

People and Workingmen. — In August of the same year 
the Liberals carried Salt Lake County, though not with a 
complete victory; a combination of People's partisans and In- 
dependent Workingmen electing the Recorder, Sheriff, and 
Treasurer. Andrew J. Burt's majority for Sheriff was two 
hundred, he having run ahead of his ticket. The fight was 
closer for Recorder and Treasurer, and the men elected, John 
H. Rumel, Jr. and Joseph B. Toronto, secured their places only 
after a contest in the courts and a ruling by the Utah Com- 
mission. Frauds were charged at Bingham and South Cotton- 
wood, but the election result remained unaffected thereby. 

Box Elder and Weber Controversies. — At Brigham City 
some friction arose over the appointment, by the County Reg- 
istrar, of three candidates for office as judges of election. The 
Utah Commission had winked at the use of prospective candi- 
dates as registrars in Salt Lake City, but now it thought best 
to interpose, pursuant to a rule recently established by itself, 
forbidding such procedure. Accordingly, the Board appointed 
a new set of judges to supersede those already selected. The 
latter refused to give way, and the new appointees opened 
another poll in the same building; the voters, to be secure, 
casting their ballots at both places. Each set of judges sent 
certified returns to the Commission, but owing to the rejection 

so 



482 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

of certain votes at one poll, and their acceptance at the other, 
the figures did not agree. It was decided that the legal re- 
turns were those from the judges last appointed. This ruling 
saved Box Elder County to the People. The Weber County 
returns were called in question by Daniel Hamer, People's 
candidate for Recorder, who alleged that votes cast for him 
had been counted for his opponent, John G. Tyler. A recount 
of the ballots was asked for, but the request was denied by the 
Commission, Tyler receiving the certificate of election. 

A Final Battle. — Once more, and for the last time, the 
Liberal and People's parties were arrayed against each 
other on a political battlefield. It was in the autumn of 1890, 
when Delegate Caine was again put forward by the People 
for a seat in Congress. The Liberal standard-bearer was 
Judge Goodwin, the veteran editor of the Tribune. The cam- 
paign ended in Caine's victory. 

Proposed Disfranchisement. — The Supreme Court of the 
United States having decreed the Idaho test oath law consti- 
tutional, the "Anti-Mormon" politicians were encouraged to 
frame a similar statute for Utah. It would have been futile, 
of course, to follow the Idaho plan too closely and introduce 
such a measure in the Legislature, a great majori'ty of whose 
members were "Mormons." The purpose was to have the law 
enacted by Congress. The framer of the bill — -Judge Baskin 
— was chosen to carry it to Washington. He reached his 
destination early in April, 1890. 

The Cullom-Struble Bill.— A few days later the disfran- 
chisement measure was introduced in the Senate. It provided 
ihat no person living in plural marriage, or who taught polyg- 
amy, or was a member or contributed to the support of any 
organization that advised or encouraged the practice, or who 
assisted in the solemnization of plural marriages, should vote, 
serve as a juror, or hold office in Utah. A test oath was in- 
corporated requiring each elector to swear that he was not a 
polygamist, would never become one, would never advise, aid, 
or abet any person in the practice of polygamy, and was not 
a member of any organization that taught or encouraged the 
practice. This bill was presented by Senator Cullom of Illi- 
nois, and became known as the Cullom Bill, the second of its 
name in Utah annals. Next day a precisely similar measure 
was presented in the House by Mr. Struble of Iowa. Both 
bills were referred to appropriate committees, and by them 
favorably reported ; not, however, before Delegate Caine and 
his colleagues had led a gallant fight against them. 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 



483 



Governor Thomas on the Situation. — About the middle of 
May Goverior Thomas returned from Washington, where he, 
with Ex-Governor West, had been working in the interest of 
a Federal Building for the Territory. In a press interview, 
the Governor stated that the decision of the Court of Last 
Resort in the Idaho disfranchisement case had been accepted 
by leading members of Congress as the solution of the Utah 
problem, and he expressed the opinion that the Cullom-Struble 
bill would probably become a law. 

Conservative "Gentile" Opposition. — That a majority of 
the "Gentiles" wanted the "Mormons" disfranchised, may well 
be doubted ; and that a very in- 
fluential class among them was 
opposed to the radical proposi- 
tion, soon became apparent. 
This class came out in pro- 
nounced antagonism to Judge 
Baskin's pet measure, the en- 
actment of which would have 
widened the gulf between the 
two social elements and dealt 
a death blowto the material in- 
terests of the Territory. Such a 
consideration had weight with 
those who had been investing 
heavily in real estate and in 
various commercial and indus- 
trial enterprises. Hundreds of 
"Gentile" business men, with 
officers and soldiers at Fort 
Douglas, signed a petition ask- 
ing Congress not to pass the 
obnoxious bill. One of the sig- 
natories was Fred Simon, Vice- 
President of the Salt Lake 
Chamber of Commerce. 




FRED SIMON. 



Ex-Delegate Cannon at Washington. — Among those who 
went to Washington to work for the defeat of the disfranchise- 
ment legislation, was President George Q. Cannon, who still 
retained much of the influence exerted by him among Con- 
gressmen in former years while serving as Utah's Delegate. 
He was accompanied by his son, Frank J. Cannon, also by 
Bishop H. B. Clawson, and Colonel Isaac Trumbo. The Ex- 
Delegate had as one of his personal friends Honorable James 
G. Blaine, Secretary of State, and recognized leader of the 
National Republican Party. 



484 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

In the Court of Last Resort. — For more than a year the 
Federal Supreme Court had had under advisement the Church 
property suits, the arguments in which were made during Jan- 
uary, 1889. The Supreme Court of Utah had declared the 
property, personal and real, with the exception of Temple 
Block, forfeited and escheated to the Government, and an ap- 
peal from that decision had been taken with a view to testing 
the constitutionality of the Edmunds-Tucker Act, particularly 
the part dissolving the Church corporation and confiscating 
its property. The ground of appeal was that Congress, a law- 
making body, had wrongfully assumed judicial powers; that 
the act of the Legislature incorporating the Church was a con- 
tract, which could not rightfully be impaired, and that the 
doctrine of escheat was alien to the spirit of American institu- 
tions. On the part of the Government it was maintained that 
Congress had authority to repeal all Territorial enactments; 
that the law incorporating the Church was invalid, as it at- 
tempted, contrary to the Constitution, to establish a religion; 
that the charter should be annulled for the abuse of granted 
rights; and that when a church corporation was dissolved, 
there being no one to whom the property could revert, it was 
therefore escheated to the Government. This decision did not 
afifect the property belonging to the Stakes of Zion, the dis- 
tribution of which by the Trustee-in-Trust to the various 
Stake Associations, held good in law. 

Escheat and Forfeiture Confirmed. — On the 19th of May, 
1890, the Supreme Court, by Mr. Justice Bradley, asserted the 
constitutionality of the Edmunds-Tucker Act and confirmed 
the decree of escheat and forfeiture. The Court held that 
Congress, having supreme authority over the Territory of 
Utah, had power to revoke the charter of the "Mormon" 
Church and cause its property to be seized and held for final 
disposition. The Government might prohibit polygamy, and 
property used for promoting that unlawful practice should be 
applied, under the direction of the courts or of the supreme 
power in the state, to other charitable objects corresponding 
as nearly as might be to the original intention of the 
donors. 

The opinion was that of a majority of the Court, Chief 
Justice Fuller and Justices Field and Lamar dissenting. They 
held that Congress had the power to suppress polygamy, but 
not to seize and confiscate the property of a corporation be- 
cause its members might have been guilty of crime. A rehear- 
ing, requested by the appellants, was denied, but a postpone- 
ment was ordered until the October term, the case being re- 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 



485 



served by the Court for further consideration as to the modifi- 
cation of the decree. 

The Personal Property Question. — Congressmen now be- 
gan racking their brains for the best method of disposing of 
the confiscated property. What was to be done with the real 
estate, the law plainly indicated; but how to dispose of the 
personal property was not so clear. Senator Edmunds came 
forward with a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to make the same disposition of the personalty as of the realty, 
that is, to devote it to the benefit of the common schools. This 
bill passed the Senate. The Vermont statesman also reported 
a measure to reorganize the 
government of Utah, reappor- 
tion the Legislative representa- 
tion, vacate the Territorial and 
County offices, and give the 
Governor appointive power in 
relation to the same. 

What of the Outcome? — 
Such was the posture of aff^airs 
in the summer of 1890. What 
would be the outcome, was the 
question agitating all Utah. 
The disposal of the Church 
property was not uppermost in 
the minds of the people. "Are 
the Mormons to be disfran- 
chised?" w^as the main ques- 
tion. Eiiforts for and against 
the pending legislation contin- 
ued to be made, and so the 
summer months went by. 

Blaine's Intervention. — The 
Cullom-Struble Bill was not 
rushed through Congress as 
the Edmunds Bill had been ; a 

fact owing, it is said, to the silent though potent influence of 
Secretary Blaine. The great political leader was convinced 
of the impolicy of the proposed legislation. Having been as- 
sured that Utah was not "hopelessly Democratic ;" that many 
of her people cherished Republican principles — notably protec- 
tion — and that this element might yet make of the Territory a 
Republican State, "the Plumed Knight" called a halt upon the 
radicals of his party in Congress who were bent upon pushing 




SECRETARY BLAINE. 



486 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HiSTORY OF UTAH. 




PRESIDENT WOODRUFF. 



through the measure threaten- 
ing- the liberties of the "Mor- 
mon" people. His powerful 
hand was interposed, however, 
with the understanding that 
something would be done in 
Utah to meet the situation. 

The Manifesto. — That 
"something" was the "Wood- 
ruff Manifesto," whereby the 
venerable head of the "Mor- 
mon" Church made known his 
intention of submitting to the 
laws of Congress enacted 
against plural marriage, and 
using his influence with the 
Latter-day Saints to have them 
do the same. The document, 
issued on the 25th of Septem- 
ber, 1890, received its formal 
ratification by the Church in 
General Conference on the 6th 
of October. The full text of 
"The Manifesto" follows : 



"OFFICIAL DECLARATION. 

"To Whom it May Concern: 

"Press dispatches having been sent for political purposes from 
Salt Lake City, which have been widely published, to the effect that 
the Utah Commission, in their recent report to the Secretary of the 
Interior, allege that plural marriages are still being solemnized, and 
that forty or more such marriages have been contracted in Utah since 
last June or during the past year; also that in public discourses the 
leaders of the Church have taught, encouraged, and urged the con- 
tinuance of the practice of polygamy; 

"I, therefore, as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints, do hereby, in the most solemn manner, declare that these 
charges are false. We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, 
nor permitting any person to enter into its practice, and I deny that 
either forty or any other number of plural marriages have during that 
period been solemnized in our temples or in any other place in the 
Territory. 

"One case has been reported in >which the parties alleged that the 
marriage was performed in the Endowment House, in Salt Lake City, 
in the spring of 1889, but I have not been able to learn who performed 
the ceremony. Whatever was done in this matter was without my 
knowledge. In consequence of this alleged occurrence, the Endow- 
ment House was, by my instructions, taken down without delay. 

"Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress, forbidding 
plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by 
the Court of Last Resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to 
those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church 
over which I preside to have them do likewise. 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 487 

"There is nothing in my teachings to the Church, or in those of 
mv associates, during the time specified, which can be reasonably con- 
strued to inculcate or encourage polygamy, and when any Elder of 
the Church has used language which appeared to convey any such 
teaching, he has been promptly reproved. And I now publicly declare 
that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting 
any marriage forbidden by the law of the land. 

"WILFORD WOODRUFF, 
"President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." 

Accepted by the Church. — Just before the Manifesto was 
presented to the assembled thousands at the Tal)ernacle, Presi- 
dent Woodruff requested one of the Bishops (the present 
writer) to read to the congregation the Church's Articles of 
l'"ailh. They were read accordingly. The parts most per- 
tment to the occasion were these: 

"6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the prim- 
itive Church, viz., apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, 
etc." 

"9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now 
reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and irn- 
portant thin'gs pertaining to the Kingdom of God." 

"11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God accord- 
ing to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same priv- 
ilege, let tliem worship how, where, or what they may." 

"12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and 
magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law." 

The Articles of Faith were sustained as the rule of con- 
duct for the Church, a motion to that end having been made 
by Elder Franklin D. Richards, of the Council of the Twelve. 
The Manifesto was then read to the people in like manner, and 
another of the Apostles — Elder Lorenzo Snow — supplemented 
the reading with this motion: 'T move that, recognizing Wil- 
ford Woodruff as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints, and the only man on the earth at the 
present time who holds the keys of the sealing ordinances, we 
consider him fully authorized, by virtue of his position, to issue 
the Manifesto Avhich has been read in our hearing, and which 
is dated September 25. 1890, and that as a Church in General 
Conference assembled, we accept his declaration concerning 
plural marriages as authoritative and binding." The vote to 
sustain the motion was unanimous. 

Expressions from the Presidency. — President George Q. 
Cannon then addressed the congregation. In explanation of 
the issuance of the Manifesto, he quoted the following para- 
graph from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants :* 



*The Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations to the 
Prophet Joseph Smith, is one of four books accepted as doctrinal 
standards by the Latter-day Saints. The other standards are the 
Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price. 



^S?> WHITNEY'S POPULAR EIISTORY OF UTAH. 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a com- 
mandment to any of the sons of men, to do a work unto My 
name, and those sons of men go with all their might, and with 
all they have, to perform that work, and cease not their dili- 
gence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them 
from performing that work ; behold, it behoveth Me to require 
that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to 
accept of their offerings." 

It was upon this basis, the speaker said, that President 
Woodruff had felt justified in issuing the Manifesto. Presi- 
dent Cannon reviewed the history of the anti-polygamy legis- 
lation, and referred to the sacrifices made by the Latter-day 
Saints for the sake of the principle involved — sacrifices that 
had not been in vain and that testified to the sincerity and con- 
scientiousness of those who had made them. The First Presi- 
dency had been appealed to many times by leading brethren 
of the Church, to put forth such a declaration as this — espe- 
cially since plural marriages ceased, and in order that the 
Church might derive the benefit that would result from the 
announcement; but not until the 25th of September did the 
Lord move upon President Woodruff to take action in the mat- 
ter. The time had come when it seemed necessary that some- 
thing should be done to meet the requirements of the country 
and save the people. It was the duty of all Latter-day Saints 
to submit to this expression of the mind and will of the Al- 
mighty. 

President Woodruff' followed his First Counselor, saying: 
"The step which I have taken in issuing this Manifesto has 
not been done without earnest prayer before the Lord. * * * 
To have taken a stand in anything which is not pleasing in the 
sight of God — I would rather have gone out and been shot. 
* * * I am not ignorant of the feelings that have been en- 
gendered through the course I have pursued. But I have done 
my duty, and the nation of which we form a part must be re- 
sponsible for that which has been done in relation to this prin- 
ciple." The President went on to say that the Lord had re- 
quired many things of the Latter-day Saints that they had 
been prevented from doing, mentioning, in particular, the re- 
quirement to build temples in Jackson County, Missouri, and 
at Far West, in that State. He then added : "It is not wisdom 
for us to go forth and carry out this principle against the laws 
of the nation. * * * ^he Lord has given us command- 
ments concerning many things, and we have carried them out 
as far as we could ; but when we cannot do it, we are justified. 
The Lord does not require at our hands things that we can- 
not do. * * * The Lord will never permit me nor any 
other man who stands as the President of this Church to lead 



THE END OF A CYCLE. 489 

you astray. It is not in the pro^s:ram. It is not in the mind of 
God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would move me out 
of my place." 

The Question of Sincerity.— The efifect of the "Mormon" 
President's official utterance upon those most favorable to the 
disfranchisement legislation, was quite dispiriting. It came as 
a surprise — almost as a shock to them. They at once ques- 
tioned the sincerity of the declaration, denouncing it as a 
sham, a trick to deceive the Nation and gain a temporary ad- 
vantage. Many of the "Anti-Mormons" continued to make 
this assertion long after the conservative "Gentiles" had ac- 
cepted the Manifesto as sincere. 

One of the first to recognize it as genuine, and allow it to 
influence his official course, was Chief Justice Zane. He had 
repeatedly expressed the wish that the President of the Church 
would issue such a statement, and now that it had come, 
he was glad, and received it in good faith. The day after 
its ratification by the Conference, Judge Zane, while examin- 
ing in court certain applicants for citizenship, remarked: 
"Hereafter I will not make the simple fact that an applicant is 
a member of the 'Mormon' Church a bar to his admission." 
Judge Anderson was not so soon converted, but eventually he 
took the same ground, sustaining the Chief Justice in his mod- 
ified attitude. 

The Question of Scope. — About a year after the date of 
the Manifesto, the question of its scope, as affecting not only 
polygamous marriages, but also the continuance of polyg- 
amous living was made the subject of a searching inquiry 
before Judge C. F. Loofbourow, at Salt Lake City. In expla- 
nation of this action, it should be known that the United 
States Supreme Court had decided that all Church prop- 
erty in the hands of the Receiver should remain there pend- 
ing further action by the Utah courts, and Judge Loofbourow 
had been appointed a Master in Chancery, to take testimony 
and determine the uses to which the escheated property might 
best be applied. The Receiver at that time was Henry W. Law- 
rence, who had succeeded Marshal Dyer as Government cus- 
todian of the property.* The hearing before the Master in 
Chancery took place in October, 189L Among the witnesses 
examined were Presidents Woodruff, Cannon and Smith, and 
Elders Lorenzo Snow and Anthon H. Lund, of the Council of 
the Twelve. According to their testimony, the Manifesto 
enjoined obedience to the laws of the land enacted against 



*Marshal Dyer resigned the Receivershin July 14, 1890, and Mr. 
Lawrence was appointed two days later. The latter was succeeded 
bv Leonard G. Hardy, Bishop of the Second Ward, Salt Lake City, 
who received his appointment N,ovember 12, 1892. 



490 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

plural marriage, both as to the ceremony and the cohabitation 
thereunder. 

A Sentiment of Toleration. — Cases of unlawful cohabita- 
tion continued to be prosecuted as fast as they came to the 
knowledge of the Government officers. But gradually a senti- 
ment grew — and it was shared by all classes of the community 
— that men who had married polygamously before the date of 
the Manifesto, should not be interfered with for living with 
their plural families while caring for and supporting them. 
No more polygamous marriages were to be entered into, but 
time was to be given for plural relationships already existing 
to pass away by natural processes, and men involved in such 
relations were not to be compelled to desert their wives and 
c-b.ildren and cast them adrift. This was the general under- 
standing among "Mormons" and "Gentiles." Even the "Anti- 
Mormons" acquiesced in the non-prosecution of such cases, 
and favored a tolerant policy in relation to them. Conse- 
quently such prosecutions ceased. 

General Effect of the Manifesto. — No event in the history 
of the commonwealth has been more prolific of results than 
the issuance of the Manifesto. One source of the all but in- 
cessant strife, one great obstacle to the admission of the Ter- 
ritory into the Union, was at length removed. The Cullom- 
Struble bill failed to pass; Utah continued free; and "Mor- 
mons" and "Gentiles," joining hands, began to work unitedly 
for Statehood. 




OLD CITY HALL, SALT LAKE CITY. 



XXXIII. 

PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 

1890-1895. 

National Party Lines. — The time now seemed propitious 
for organizing in Utah the Demoncratic and Republican 
parties. Since 1872 they had maintained a shadowy sort of 
existence in the Territory, but beyond sending delegates to 
and keeping in touch with the great pc^litical gatherings held 
in various parts of the country, they had accomplished little or 
nothing. Most of the citizens, Republicans or Democrats by 
tradition, were arrayed against each other on strictly local 
lines, and general politics were practically ignored. The 
triumph of the National Democracy, in 1884, rolled a wave 
of enthusiasm over Utah, the majority of whose inhabitants 
were Democratic in their sympathies, and, as already shown, 
certain members of that party organized a club and started 
a paper. But this efifort soon spent its force. Four years 
later "The Sagebrush Democracy" launched its vigorous but 
short-lived movement. Meanwhile the local strife continued, 
the Liberals gradually making headway in a few towns and 
counties, and the people, whenever the fight was general, 
sweeping away all opposition. Now, however, a decisive 
c]7ange had come, and it was felt on both sides that these 
parties should disband. Having fulfilled their mission, they 
stood in the way of progress. 

Utah Democrats.^ — This sentiment, even before the issu- 
ance of the Manifesto, had led to the organization of a Demo- 
cratic Club, which had its first meeting in April or May, 1890, 
at the of^ce of United States Marshal Dyer. "Mormons" as 
well as "Gentiles" were present, and Colonel H. C. Lett acted 
a«= chairman. The subject of disbanding home parties and 
introducing the national alignments was discussed, and a com- 
mittee appointed to further agitate the question. On the 10th 
of May, at an open air meeting held under the auspices of this 
club, a memorial was adopted denouncing the Cullom-Struble 
bill, and demanding fair treatment and truthful reports from 
the Associated Press upon local affairs. As a result of this 
agitation, the Democratic Party of Utah came into existence 
during the spring and summer of 1891. 

President Harrison's Visit. — Early in that year President 
Benjamin Harrison paid the Territory a visit. He was re- 
luming from California and the Northwest, after a tour of the 
Nation, and spent a day — Saturday, May 9th, — at Salt Lake 
City. He had been met at Pocatello, Idaho, by Governor 
Thomas, Delegate Caine, and other citizens, who escorted him 



492 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 




PRESIPENT HARRISON. 



to the Utah capital. Included in the President's party was 
his wife, also Postmaster General Wanamaker, Secretary 
Ivusk, and other persons of prominence. Their special train 

reached Salt Lake at four o'clock in 
the morning'. The town was in gala 
attire, to welcome the Chief Magis- 
trate. After an informal reception 
at the Walker House, and the pres- 
entation to President Harrison, by 
Governor Thomas, in behalf of the 
people, of a silver tray made of metal 
from the Ontario Mine, a proces- 
sion was formed to accompany the 
visitors to Liberty Park, where a 
program of speeches and music was 
to be rendered. 

"And a Little Child Shall Lead 
Them,"- — -The procession, after leav- 
ing Main Street, was passing up 
South Temple, and had arrived op- 
posite B Street, when a vision of 
beauty burst upon the view. Cov- 
ering the gently sloping hillside for more than a block, stood 
an army of school children, six or seven thousand in number, 
all tastefully attired, each waving a tiny American Flag, and 
cheering for the President of the United States. The proces- 
sion halted, and Harrison stood with uncovered head, while 
the little ones sang "America" and "The Star Spangled Ban- 
ner," keeping time to the music with their flags. In a voice 
tremulous with emotion, the President then addressed them : 

"Children, in all our pleasant journeyings through the 
sunny South- — the land of flowers — and amidst the joyous 
greetings of loyal people throughout our free and venerated 
country, we have witnessed nothing so extremely lovely as 
this inspiring and unexpected sight. Such perfect arrange- 
ment, such beautiful singing, such concerted action of an 
almost numberless multitude of children, waving a forest of 
banners emblematical of independence and liberty, present a 
picture and offer a welcome that the lapse of time will not 
erase from our memories. You, children from the schools 
established and guarded by your public authorities, are fitting 
yourselves for usefulness, citizenship, and patriotism (here 
the speaker was interrupted by three hearty cheers from the 
children) — and in you lies the hope of Utah and the glory 
of our country. In conclusion, I thank you for this feeling 
demonstration, and invoke the choicest blessings of a benef- 
icent country and a still more beneficent Creator upon you." 



PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 493 

At Liberty Park. — At the Park President Harrison, Secre- 
tary Rusk, and CJeneral Wanamaker addressed the people. 
Upon the recent admission into the Union of North and South 
Dakota, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the 
Chief Magistrate expressed himself in glowing terms. He 
then spoke of Utah's prospects for Statehood, and said : "I 
have no discord as a public officer with men of any creed, re- 
ligious or political, if they will obey the law. My oath of 
office, my public duty, requires me to be against those who 
violate it. * * * The foundation of American life is the 
American home. That which characterizes and separates us 
from nations whose political experience and history have been 
full of strife and discord, is the American home, where one 
mother sits in single uncrowned honor, the queen of her home. 
And now, my countrymen, I beg to assure you that in every 
hope you have for Utah, running on these lines of free gov- 
ernment, on these lines of domestic and social order, I have 
for every one of you the most cordial greeting, and enter with 
} ou into your most gorgeous hopes. God bless and keep you 
all, and guide you in those same paths of social purity and 
order and peace that shall make you one of the greatest com- 
monwealths in the American Union." After the proceedings 
at Liberty Park, the visitors attended the opening of the new 
Chamber of Commerce Building, and then took train for the 
East. 

Utah Republicans. — Eleven days later, at a mass meet- 
ing in the Salt Lake Theatre, it was proposed to organize the 
Republican Party of Utah. A strong adverse sentiment de- 
veloped, but was overcome by a vote of two to one, and a 
committee of "Mormons" and "Gentiles," including such 
names as James Sharp, John Henry Smith, Charles W. Ben- 
nett, and H. G. McMillan, was appointed to publish an ad- 
dress to the people, favoring the organization of national 
political parties in the Territory. Immediately after the pub- 
lication of that address, the Central Republican Club was 
formed, and the organization of the Republican Party soon 
followed. 

The People's Party Disbands. — The People's Party went 
cut of existence on the lUth of June, when its Territorial Com- 
mittee met and adopted a resolution dissolving the organiza- 
tion, leaving those belonging to it "free to unite with the 
great national parties according to individual preference." 
Republicans were fewer than Democrats at that time, for the 
reason that many having Republican principles held aloof 
from politics at the Ijeginning, while others of similar lean- 
ings constituted the majority of the Liberty Party, which had 
not yet decided to disband. 



494 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

The Liberal Attitude. — Most of the Liberal leaders and 
their followers were strongly opposed to the new political 
movement. They distrusted the sincerity of the People's 
Party, or those until recently connected with it, charg^ing 
that they had dissolved their organization at the dictum of the 
Church, and that it was a plot to divide the Liberals and place 
the political control of the Territory in "Mormon" hands for 
purposes adverse to "Gentile" interests. They declared that 
the Priesthood claimed the right to direct the people how to 
vote at all times, and that if Utah became a State the "Mor- 
mons," through their Church-influenced Legislatures, would 
enact laws oppressive to the "Gentiles," even to the virtual 
confiscation of their property. 

From the Church Leaders. — In a conciliatory reply to 
these accusations, the First Presidency made a statement in 
the form of an interview, published in the Salt Lake Times, 
embodying substantially, though at greater length, the fol- 
lowing propositions: 

1. The Church will not assert any right to control the 
political actions of its members. The officers of the Church 
disclaim such right. 

2. There will be no reason for the members of the 
Cluirch to come together and vote solidly if political condi- 
tions in Utah are similar to those which prevail elsewhere. 

3. However much appearances may have indicated that 
the "Mormon" people favor such a condition, there is no real 
disposition among them to unite Church and State; in fact, 
there should be a separation between the two. 

4. It is the wish of the "Mormon" people to unite with 
\he great national parties and conduct politics in Utah as they 
are conducted in all other States; there is no reason why the 
members of the Church should not act freely with the na- 
tional parties at all times. 

5. It is conceded that there is nothing to be gained for 
the Church by securing for it political control in Utah, with 
or without Statehood ; the members and leaders of the Church 
desire to place it in a position in the community like that 
occupied by other religious bodies ; the only protection the 
"Mormon" Church desires is that which it would obtain under 
general laws which secure the rights of all denominations. It 
would be unwise for the "Mormon" people to endeavor to 
receive any advantages not shared in by all other religious 
people. All that is asked for the Church is that it shall have 
equal rights before the law. 

First Election After National Alignments. — In August 
occurred the first election in Utah after the division on na- 
tional party lines. The election was for County ofificers and 



PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 



495 



members of the Legislature, and three tickets were in the 
field — Democratic, Republican and Liberal. Excepting Salt 
Lake County, where the Liberals elected almost their entire 
ticket, the Democrats were victorious throughout the Terri- 
tory; the Republican vote being comparatively small. 

Legislature of 1892. — The Legislature convening on Jan- 
uary 11th,, 1892, organized with William H. King as Presi- 
dent of the Council, and William H. Seegmiller as Speaker of 
the House. Among the laws enacted during the session was 
one providing that all general and local elections should be 
held on Tuesday following the first Monday in November, 
1893, and biennially thereafter. Grand County was created, 
and the Fourth Judicial District organized ; the latter compris- 
ing Weber, Box Elder, Cache, Rich and Morgan counties. It 
was also provided that Utah should be appropriately repre- 
sented at the World's Columbian Exposition. 

Home Rule and Statehood. — Early in 1892 Congress be- 
gan wrestling with the dual problem of Home Rule and State- 
hood for Utah; bills favoring both propositions having been 
presented at Washington. The Home Rule Bill, a Democratic 
measure, was introduced in the House of Representatives by 
Delegate Caine, and in the 
Senate by Senator Faulkner, 
of West Virginia. Delegations 
from Utah spoke for and 
against it before the Commit- 
tee on Territories. Among 
the advocates of Home Rule 
were Harvey W. Smithy 
Charles C. Richards, John W. 
Judd, Franklin S. Richards, 
Thomas J. Anderson, Joseph 
L. Rawlins, Frank H. Dyer, 
and Caleb W. West. Its 
principal opponents were Or- 
lando W. Powers, Clarence E. 
Allen, Charles W. Bennett, 
and John Henry Smith. Some 
of these argued for Statehood 
rather than against Home 
Rule. The Republicans origi- 
nated the Statehood Bill, 
which was introduced by Sen- 
ator Henry M. Teller, of Colo- 
rado. The Utah Delegate also o. j. Salisbury. 
introduced a bill for an En- 
abling Act. But none of these measures passed through Cong- 
ress. 




496 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Pardon for Polygamists. — While the Home Rule BiH 
was being considered, a petition was presented, signed by 
the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles of the Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, asking amnesty for all 
polygamists. This petition, dated at Salt Lake City, Decem- 
19, 1891, and endorsed by Governor Thomas, Chief Justice 
Zane, and other "Gentiles," was read by Delegate Caine be- 
fore the Senate Committee on Territories, and became a part 
of the published proceedings of that body. President Harri- 
son, on January 4, 1893, issued a proclamation of pardon to 
polygamists for past offenses, with a recommendation that 
future infractions be vigorously prosecuted. The pardon was 
limited to those who, since November 1st, 1890, had abstained 
from unlawful cohabitation. Agreeable to the terms of this 
proclamation, the Utah Commission ruled that former polyg- 
amists might vote at elections in this Territory.* 

To the National Conventions. — The Territorial Con- 
ventions of the newly organ- 
ized parties sent strong dele- 
gations to the National Con- 
ventions in 1892. At Chicago, 
John T. Caine and Henry P. 
I lenderson assisted to nomi- 
nate Grover Cleveland for his 
second term as President. The 
Democratic Liberals, who had 
organized the Tuscarora Club, 
sent their Grand Sachem, 
judge Powers, with Mayor 
Kiesel, to the same conven- 
tion ; but they were refused ad- 
mission. At Minneapolis O. J. 
Salisbury and Frank J. Cannon 
sat in the Republican Conven- 
.tion, which also admitted C. C. 
Goodwin and C. E. Allen, rep- 
resenting the Republican wing 
of the Liberal Party. Each one 
of the four was given half a 

DELEGATE RAWLINS. vote. 

Rawlins Elected Delegate. — The ensuing autumn wit- 
nessed a triangular political 1)attle for the Delegateship ; Jo- 




*About a year later the Commission was reorganized, with Utah 
men as its members, namely J. R. Letcher, George W. Thatcher, A. G. 
Norrell, Hoyt Sherman, Jr., and E. W. Tatlock. One of these was 
a "Mormon"— Mr. Thatcher, who resided at Logan. 



PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 



497 



seph L. Rawlins leading" the Democrats, Frank J. Cannon the 
Republicans, and Clarence E. Allen the Liberals. A spirited 
campaign throughout the Territory ended in a debate between 
the Democratic and Republican candidates, at the Salt Lake 
Theatre, on the evening of November 7th. Next day the issue 
was. decided at the polls. Church influence, in the interest of 
Mr. Cannon, was alleged to have been used at this election, 
but the charge was denied. Mr. Rawlins was elected by a 
plurality of nearly three thousand. The Delegate-elect took 
his seat in the House of Representatives at the opening of the 
extra session of the Forty-third Congress, during Aug- 
ust, 1893. 

Democracy Again Triumphs. — Meanwhile the National 
Democracy had again prevailed, and once more Grover 
Cleveland was President. In 
April of that year Caleb W. 
West was re-appointed Gov- 
ernor of Utah, and in May 
Charles C. Richards became 
Secretary. Mr. Richards was 
a native of the Territory and 
a prominent lawyer of Ogden. 
He had been active in organ- 
izing the Democratic Party 
throughout Utah. About the 
same time Nat M. Brigham, 
originally from Massachu- 
setts, but for several years a 
resident of Salt Lake City, 
was made United States 
Marshal. In January, 1894, 
Samuel A. Merritt, a promi- 
nent member of the Utah Bar, 
succeeded Charles S. Zane as 
Chief Justice. The latest ap- 
pointed Associate Justices 
were Harvey W. Smith and 
James A. Miner, the latter 
presiding over the newly created Fourth District. 

The Salt Lake Temple Dedicated. — An event of special 
import to most of the people of Utah, and of general interest 
to all, occurred in April, 1893, when the completed Salt Lake 
Temple, which had been in course of erection for forty years, 
was dedicated with solemn and impressive ceremonies. None 
but Latter-day Saints were admitted to the dedication — this 
being the rule^ of the Church— but before that event a special 
invitation was extended by the General Authorities to prom- 




SECRETARY RICHARDS. 



31 



498 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 




SALT LAKE TEMPLE. 

inent "Gentiles," requesting all who so desired to pass through 
and inspect the interior of the sacred edifice. The invitation 
was accepted, quite a procession of "outsiders" availing them- 
selves of the rare and unlocked for privilege. The Salt Lake 
Tribune ,which was still the organ of the Liberal Party, ex- 
pressed its high appreciation of an act of courtesy which it 
said had placed them under a sense of deep obligation. 

The dedication, beginning on the 6th of April — the sixty- 
third anniversary of the organization of the Church — was con- 
tinued from day to day for the accommodation of the people 
thronging from every quarter, the original ceremony being re- 
peated until all had had the opportunity to witness it. The 
proceedings were under the direction of President Wilford 
Woodruff and his Counselors. 

Utah at the World's Fair. — In the selection of National 
Commissioners to look after Utah interests at the World's 
Fair (Chicago, 1892-1893), President Harrison had named P. 



PREPARIN(; FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 



499 



H. Eannan and F. J. Kiesel, 
both "Gentiles," residents re- 
spectively of Salt Lake City 
and Ogden. For a like pur- 
pose, Governor Thomas had 
appointed as Territorial Com- 
missioners two "Gentiles"— 
Robert C. Chambers and 
Richard Mcintosh — and one 
"Mormon" — Nelson A. 
Empey ; all of Salt Lake City. 
These gentlemen, with an 
army of aids, male and female, 
labored zealously and success- 
fully for the accomplishment 
of the important undertak- 
ing. At the head of a board 
of Lady Managers stood Mrs. 
Emily S. Richards, wife of 
Franklin S. Richards, of Salt 
Lake City. Among her asso- 
ciates were Mrs. Jane S. Rich- 
ards, of Ogden; Mrs. Electa 
Bullock, of Provo ; and Mrs. 
Luna Y. Thatcher, of Logan. 
These ladies were all members of the "Mormon" Clni 




ROBERT C. CHAMBER.S. 



rch. 



On the Fair Grounds an eligible site was secured and a 
suitable building erected, in which a creditable exhibition rep- 
resenting Utah's resources and attractions was maintained 
during the continuance of the Exposition. The approach to the 
Utah Building was a reproduction of Eagle Gate, and upon 
the lawn stood Dallin's bronze statue of Brigham Young, now 
part of the Pioneer Monument at Salt Lake City. The Terri- 
tory placed additional exhibits in the Agricultural, Manu- 
factures, Mining, Fine Arts, Educational. Archaeological 
Ethnological, and Women's departments. Among the most 
attractive features was the silk display, which created wide- 
spread favorable comment. A costly pair of silk curtains, 
beautifully embroidered in the design of a honey bee, testified 
to the skill and taste of ladies of Salt Lake and Ogden. The 
curtains were designed for the Woman's Building — projected 
but never built — and were presented to Mrs. Potter-Palmer 
(whose husband had subscribed two hundred thousand dollars 
toward such a structure) by Mrs. O. J. Salisbury, represent- 
ing the women of Utah on that occasion. The cost of pre- 
paring and maintaining these exhibits was over sixty thousand 
dollars, about one-third of which was returned in materials, 
articles and other property, going to equip various home insti- 



500 WHITNEY'S POPUI.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 




NELSON A. EMPEY. 



tutions, notably the Deseret 
Agricultural and Manufactur- 
ing Society and the Univer- 
sity of Deseret. 

Utah day at the Fair was the 
9th of September, the forty- 
third anniversary of the organ- 
ization of the Territory. Gov- 
ernor West, President Wood- 
ruff, and other leading citizens 
were present and made 
speeches on the occasion. In 
the great Choral Contest the 
Tabernacle Choir of Salt Pake 
City won second prize, and in 
the opinion of many merited 
the first. This splendid body 
of singers had set out for Chi- 
cago in company with the 
First Presidency and others, 
the entire party numbering 
about four hundred persons. 
The Choir gave concerts in 
some of the large cities en 



route. One of the places 
visited was Independence, Jack- 
son County, Missouri, from 
which section, sixty years be- 
Saints had been expelled by 
violence. Now the "Mormon" 
leaders were hospitably re- 
ceived, the Mayor of Independ- 
ence coming out to meet them, 
and delivering a speech of wel- 
come. They were also kindly 
treated at Chicago, where the 
Choir presented Director Gen- 
eral Davis with a cane made 
by one of its members from a 
piece of mountain mahogany. 
The Religious Parliament. 
— Very different was the treat- 
ment meted out to the "Mor- 
mon" representative, Elder B. 
H. Roberts, at the World's 
Parliament of Religions, an ad- 
junct to the great Fair. In re- 




MRS. EMILY S. RICHARDS. 



PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 



501 



iHHHj 


^k 




Et «. ^fl 




^'^1 







MRS. ELECTA BULLOCK. 



sponse to a general invitation, 
issued by the directors of the 
Parliament to the religious so- 
cieties of every country, Elder 
Roberts had been appointed 
by the Presidency of the 
Church to represent the Lat- 
ter-day Saints ; but when he 
ai)plied for permission to speak 
from the same platform where 
Christian. Buddhist, Moham- 
medan, and Jew had stood 
voicing their religious views, 
he was denied that privilege ; 
a manifestation of liigotr}' 
hardly looked for, and entirely- 
inconsistent with the avowed 
purpose for which the Parlia- 
ment had been summoned. 

Liberals Defeated by Fu- 
sionists. — Following the exam- 
ple of Ogden, where, in Febru- 
ary, 1891, voters of all parties, 
uniting, had taken from the hands of the Liberals the reins 
of government, the IndependentCitizens of Salt Lake City — 
'"Gentiles" and "Mormons" — put up a fusion ticket, and at the 
November election in 1893, secured all the municipal offices 
excepting Treasurer and five members of the City Council. 
The Independent ticket was headed with the name of Robert 
N. Baskin, who was thus given a second term as Mayor of 
Salt Lake City, the Liberals having elected him two years 
1>cfore. Judge Baskin, during his first term, had come out 
strong against the extravagance and misrule of his own party 
administration, and it was in recognition of his commendable 
attitude that the Independents made him their candidate. 
While Mr. Baskin was Mayor, the Salt Lake City and County 
Building was erected on Washington Square. 

Governor West for Statehood. — Governor West, report- 
ing to the Secretary of the Interior in October, 1893, said: 
'"We now have a population of about 250,000. An assessed 
taxable valuation of $109,000,000. It is scarcely necessary to 
dilate upon or go into particulars as to Utah's population, 
\vealth. stability, and material development, entitling her to 
Statehood. * * * /^ small minority continue to interpose 
objections to the conferring of this great boon upon the Terri- 
tory. It affords me pleasure, however, to be able to state that 
this class is constantly growing less and its numbers rapidly 
decreasing. Our people, afteryears of earnest efifort, have 



502 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 




MAYOR BASKIN. 



peacefully solved their diffi- 
culties and satisfactorily set- 
tled their differences. The sal- 
utary lessons inculcated in the 
school of actual experience 
have admirably trained and fit- 
ted them for the duties and re- 
sponsibilities of State Govern- 
ment." The Governor also 
recommended the return to the 
"Mormon" Church of its prop- 
erty, seized and held under the 
operations of the Edmunds- 
Tucker Act. 

Personal Property Re- 
turned. — A movement to re- 
store the personal property, 
which had been taken without 
warrant of law, was already on 
foot, Delegate Rawlins having 
presented to Congress, during 
vScptember, a resolution to that end. This property was valued 
at about four hundred thousand dollars. It has already been 
shown how the Supreme Court at Washington decided (May, 
1891), that all the Church property then in the hands of the 
Receiver should remain there pending further action by the 
Utah courts; and how, in order to determine the uses to which 
it might best be applied, the Supreme Court of the Territory 
appointed Judge Loofbourow a Master in Chancery, to take 
testimony in the case, which was heard by him in October of 
that year. The Master in Chancery filed his report in Janu- 
ary, 1892, recommending that the property be devoted to the 
benefit of the public schools. In July the Court directed the 
Receiver to turn over to the Secretary of the Interior the 
escheated real estate, and later authorized the use of the per- 
sonal property for building and repairing houses of worship 
and for the support of the poor. Leonard G. Hardy, "Mor- 
mon" and Bishop of the Second Ward, Salt Lake Stake, was 
appointed a trustee for that purpose. He filed his bond, but 
before he could enter upon the discharge of his duties. Con- 
gress enacted the Rawlins resolution restoring the personal 
property to the Church. The date of approval by the Presi- 
dent wa s October 25, 1893.* 

*By the resolution, the personal property and money of the 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not arising from the 
sale or rents of real estate since March 3, 1887, was "restored to said 
Church, to be applied under the direction and control of the First 
Presidency of said Church to the charitable uses and purposes 
thereof." 



PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 503 

The Liberal Party Dissolves. — The general election in 
November of that }ear placed in the Legislative Council five 
Democrats, five Republicans, and two Liberals; vs^hile eight 
Democrats, ten Republicans and six Liberals were in the 
House. Soon after the election the Tribune advised the Lib- 
erals to dissolve their organization and unite with the national 
parties, which were growing in strength daily. Accordingly, 
the Convention that had nominated their ticket, re-assembling, 
adopted a resolution declaring the Liberal Party dissolved. It 
was understood that those elected as Liberals would act in the 
Legislature with their respective parties, as Democrats or Re- 
l)ublicans. 

The Enabling Act. — The bill destined to become "The 
Enabling Act," under which Utah was admitted into the 
Union of States, was drafted by Delegate Rawlins, and by him 
presented in the House of Representatives on the 6th of Sep- 
tember. 1893. Referred to the Committee on Territories, and 
reported back with an amendment, it was del:)ated two days, 
]:»assing the House on the 13th of December. While speaking 
to the question, Mr. Rawlins made a vigorous and telling re- 
ply to Representative Morse, of Massachusetts, who had de- 
nc^unced the people of Utah as criminals and vagabonds, im- 
puting to their Delegate a sinister motive in proposing State- 
liood for the Territory.* 

"An Act to Enable the People of Utah to Form a Consti- 
tution and State Government, and to be Admitted into the 
Union on an Equal Footing with the Original States," having 
passed House and Senate, was approved by President Cleve- 
land on the 16th of July, 1894. It authorized the holding of a 
Constitutional Convention,! to be composed of one hundred 



*RawIins. after reminding Morse that conditions had changed in 
Utah, said: "There is less polygamy, as shown by the records for the 
last ten years in Utah, made known and which has come to light, in 
proportion to population, than there has been in the same time in the 
State of Massachusetts." Laughter and applause greeted this remark, 
and the Delegate continued: "When an entire people is arraigned by 
any gentleman, he certainly ought to be prepared with some evidence 
to justify what he says. And when a gentleman arises upon this 
Hoor, as the gentleman from Massachusetts did, and makes the as- 
sertion with respect to the people of Utah, that they are murderers, 
polygamists, thieves, vagabonds, and is not able to produce one syl- 
lable of evidence to justify his statement, * * * he ought to hang 
his head in shame. He is not worthy to represent a civilized people" 
(Applause). 

tThe Delegates were apportioned as follows: Beaver County, 
two: Box Elder, four: Cache, eight; Davis, three: Emery, three: Gar- 
field, one: Grand, one: Iron, one: Juab, three: Kane, one; Millard, 
two: Morgan, one; Piute, one; Rich, one: Salt Lake, twenty-nine; 
San Juan, one: Sanpete, seven; Sevier, three: Summit, four; Tooele, 
two; Uintah, one: Utah, twelve; Wasatch, two; Washington, two; 
Wayne, one; Weber, eleven. 



504 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 




JOHN HENRY SMITH. 



and seven delegates, who were 
to meet at the capital of the 
Territory on the first Monday 
in March, 1895, and frame the 
fundamental law of the pro- 
posed State. 

A Republican Victory. — 
The election of delegates to the 
Constitutional Convention took 
place on the 6th of Novem- 
ber, 1894. At the same time 
a Delegate to Congress was 
chosen, to succeed Mr. Raw- 
lins, whose term was about to 
expire. Again he had been 
made the jcandidate of his 
party, and once more the Re- 
publicans had put forward 
Frank J. Cannon, whom Raw- 
lins had defeated two years be- 
fore. That result was now re- 
versed ; Cannon defeating Rawlins. The Republicans also 
elected sixty members of the Constitutional Convention, giv- 
ing them a majority of thirteen in that body. The extent of 
this victory was owing to the dissolution of the Liberal 
Party, most of whose adherents had ranged themselves under 
the Republican banner. The conversion of an element hith- 
erto neutral in politics had also strongly reinforced that 
organization. Above all, the general cry of "Hard Times" 
was effectual against the party in power. 

The Constitutional Convention. — The Constitutional Con- 
\(Mition met in the House of Representatives. Salt Lake City 
and County Building, on Monday, March 4, 1895, and organ- 
ized with John Henry Smith as President. This gentleman 
was a son of the Pioneer, George A. Smith, who is said to 
have planted the first potato in Salt Lake Valley. The Con- 
vention was in session for sixty-six days, and the result of 
its labors was the Constitution of the State of Utah. It dif- 
lered from the Constitutions of most of the States in that it 
accorded to women equal suffrage with men, and provided b}' 
ordinance, -irrevocable without the consent of the United 
States and the people of Utah, that polygamous or plural mar- 
riages were forever prohibited. 

In an address to the people, submitting to them the Con- 
stitution, the members of the Convention thus expressed them- 
selves: "If with Statehood there will be a slight increase in 
taxes, the cornpensating advantages will cause the increased 



PREPARING FOR SOVEREIGNTY. 505 

expense to be forgotten. We shall be able to utilize the mag- 
nificent gift of over seven million acres of land from our gen- 
erous Government; we shall be able to secure capital for our 
mines; under the shield of Statehood thousands of people will 
seek homes in our climate, assist to develop our wondrous and 
varied resources, and rejoice in the manifold blessings be- 
stowed by Nature upon our highly favored commonwealth. 
When we reflect that this instrument will secure to us in its 
highest sense local self-government, with State officers of our 
cwn selection, and courts for the swift, capable, and economi- 
cal administration of the laws by judges of the people's choos- 
ing; that it will give us a school system abreast of the fore- 
most in the Union, with power to utilize the lands donated to 
our educational institutions; give us a voice in the election 
of Presidents, also two Senators and one Representative to 
l^resent the claims of our new State in the Congress of the 
Nation ; add the Star of Utah to the hallowed ensign of the Re- 
public ; bestow upon us full sovereignty with all that this 
majestic term implies, and thus draw to us capital and popula- 
tion, and invest us with a dignity that could never attach to a 
Territorial condition, with steadily swelling confidence we 
submit this Constitution to the consideration of the people of 
Utah, in the certain belief that they will, by an overwhelming 
majority, endorse and ratify our work." 

Constitution Ratified — State Officers Chosen. — The Con- 
stitution was ratified by an immense vote, and at the same 
time the first State officers were chosen. Three tickets had 
been nominated — Republican, Democratic and Populist. 
The Republican ticket was victorious, standing as follows : 
Governor Heber M. Wells, Justices of the Supreme Court 
Charles S. Zane, George W. Bartch, and James A. Miner, Sec- 
retary of State James T. Hammond, Attorney General A. C. 
Bishop, Treasurer James Chipman. Auditor Morgan Rich- 
ards, Superintendent of Public Instruction John R. Park. 
The Republicans also elected Clarence E. Allen, Representa- 
tive in Congress, and secured a majority in the State Legis- 
lature. 

The District Judges were Charles H. Hart, Henry H. 
Rolapp, Ogden Hiles, John A. Street, Morris L. Ritchie, Ervin 
A. Wilson, Edward V. Higgins. William H. McCarty, and 
Jacob Johnson. Judges Hart. Rolapp, Hiles, and Wilson were 
Democrats ; the remainder. Republicans. 

Immediately after the acceptance of the State Constitu- 
tion by the people of the Territory, an engrossed copy of the 
instrument, duly certified by the Utah Commission, was for- 
warded to Washington and s\ibmitted to the President of the 
United States. 



XXXIV. 

THE FORTY-FIFTH STATE. 

1896-1897. 

Announcement of Utah's Admission. — All was now ready 
for the President's proclamation announcing the admission of 
Utah into the Union. Such a proclamation, it was under- 
stood, would issue from Washington, if the Constitution and 
Government of the proposed State were found to be repub- 
lican in form, with all the provisions of the Enabling Act com- 
plied with by the people of the 
Territory. The eagerly-awaited 
tidings came during the fore- 
noon of Saturday, January 
4th, 1896, and were greeted 
throughout Utah with joyful 
enthusiasm. At the capital the 
reception of the news was 
made known by the firing of a 
shot in front of the Western 
Union Telegraph Office ; a sig- 
nal that set bells to ringing, whis- 
tles blowing, and guns firing, 
all over town, in celebration of 
the event. The day was bright, 
and everybody jubilant. 

Inaugural Ceremonies. — 
The ceremonies of inaugura- 
tion were reserved for Mon- 
day the 6th, and the Taber- 
(lovERNOR WELLS ^^^-^^^ ^^^ largest auditorium 

available, was utilized for the purpose. It was draped with 
American flags, one of them measuring a hundred and fifty 
feet in length, by seventy-five in width. Hanging from the 
concave dome near the great organ, it covered the entire space 
between the ends of the galleries. Upon this flag the forty- 
fifth star was illuminated ; that being Utah's number in the 
national constellation. High up between the organ pipes, 
above the dates 1847 and 1896, hovered with outspread wings 
an efiigy of the American eagle, while below blazed the word 
"Utah" in electrical display. More than ten thousand people 
thronged the spacious interior, while other thousands stood 




THE FORTY-FIFTH STATE. 507 

outside, unable to gain admittance. Upon the stand were 
many leading- citizens, including the authorities of the Terri- 
tory, Fort Douglas officers, and the newly-elected servants of 
the people. 

Governor West being absent, Secretary Richards presided 
over and directed the proceedings. They began at thirty min- 
utes past the noon hour, with preliminary remarks by the 
Chairman, and music from the United States Sixteenth In- 
fantry Band. This splendid organization, with the equallv 
excellent Denhalter Band, rendered various selections during 
the progress of the meeting. The opening prayer was of- 
fered by President George Q. Cannon, in behalf of President 
Woodruff, who was present, but in feeble health. A chorus of 
one thousand children, all waving flags and keeping time 
to the conductor's baton, then sang "The .Star-Spangled Ban- 
ner." 

Ex-Delegate Rawlins, taking the stand, read the procla- 
mation by which Utah had been admitted into the Union, and 
addressed to the Governor-elect these words : "I now have 
the honor to present to you, the first Governor of the new 
State of Utah, the pen used by the President of the United 
States, ten minutes before midnight, July 16, 1894, to sign the 
bill under which Utah has become a State. I present it to you 
in order that it may be preserved in the archives of the Com- 
monwealth." The pen was handed to Governor Wells amidst 
applause and cheers from the multitude. 

Governor Wells. — The new Executive was introduced by 
Acting-Governor Richards, who, in behalf of the Federal Gov- 
ernment, surrendered the offices and public affairs of the Ter- 
ritory into the keeping of the State. The oath of office was 
administered to Governor Wells and his associates by Chief 
Justice Zane, who had been sworn in previously. The Taber- 
nacle Choir sang "Utah, We Love Thee," written and com- 
posed for the occasion by their leader, Professor Evan Steph- 
ens, and Secretary of State Hammond read a proclamation 
from the Governor, convening the Legislature in special ses- 
sion that afternoon. 

Governor Wells then delivered his inaugural message. 
Beginning with a tribute to the Pioneers, he congratulated 
them and the citizens in general that Utah had become a State. 
He also, congratulated the State and Nation upon the Terri- 
tory's admission, and related the various efforts made by the 
founders of the commonwealth to give the event an earlier 
date. The fact that Chief Justice Zane, a "Gentile," had been 
chosen for the highest judicial office, and himself, a "Mormon." 
for the first executive office in the new State, was cited as a 



508 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

proof that old wounds had been healed and old animosities 
buried. The speaker recounted Utah's material wealth and 
resources, advocated the construction of a railroad to the 
South and West, and called attention to the prospective open- 
ing of the Uintah and Uncompahgre Indian reservations to 
white settlement and occupancy. Woman Suffrage, which the 
Governor had helped to place in the State Constitution, was 
made the subject of a complimentary allusion. The speech 
closed with an exhortation to continued patriotism on the part 
of the people, and a portrayal of the glorious privileges of citi- 
zenship in a free and sovereign State.* 

At the conclusion of the Governor's address, the Choir 
sang "America," and Reverend Thomas C. Iliff, of the Meth- 
odist Church, pronounced the benediction. To the strains of 
"Hail Columbia," by the Sixteenth Infantry Band, the great 
throng poured out into the sunlight, and the inaugural pro- 
ceedings of the State of Utah passed into history. 

First State Legislature. — Immediately after the exercises 
in the Tabernacle, the first and special session of the State 
Legislature convened at the Salt Lake City and County Build- 
ing, the regular place of assembly for the local law workers un- 
til the completion of the State Capitol. George M. Cannon was 
President of the Senate, and Presley Denney, Speaker of the 
House. It devolved upon this Legislature to elect two United 
States Senators, one for four years and the other for one year, 
according to the provisions of the Federal Constitution. Frank 
I. Cannon was given the long term, and Arthur Brown the 
short term, by the Republican majority of the Joint Assembly. 
Everything necessary was done to set in motion the machinery 
of the State Government, and the alloted ninety days allowed 
by the State Constitution for this special session, were more 
than consumed by the proceedings. Each subsequent biennial 
session was to be limited to sixty days. 

Escheated Real Estate I^eturned. — Statehood year was 
made memorable to the Latter-day Saints by the return of the 
Church's real property, taken by the Federal Government un- 
der the provisions of the Edmunds-Tucker Act. The confis- 



*Governor Heber M. Wells, son of General Daniel H. Wells, was 
born in Salt Lake City, August 11, 1859. Of versatile gifts, including 
a marked predilection for the drama, he early displayed aptitude for 
cjerical and executive work, and was for many years City Recorder, 
also serving frequently as Minute Clerk and Chief Clerk in the Legis- 
lature. In 1895 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention, 
elected over Judge Henry P. Henderson, Democrat, in the Fourth 
Precinct of Salt Lake City. His Democratic opponent for Governor 
was John T. Caine, whom he had succeeded as City Recorder when 
the latter became Utah's Delegate in Congress. 



THE FORTY-FIFTH STATE. 



509 



cated personal property was already restored, and now a joint 
resolution of Senate and House, approved by President Cleve- 
land March 28, 1896, returned in like manner the escheated 
real estate. 

In September, 1894, President Cleveland had supple- 
mented President Harrison's proclamation of amnesty, by 
granting- pardon and restoring civil rights to all persons dis- 
franchised by the anti-polygamy laws, excepting such as had 
not complied with the terms laid down by his predecessor. 
Congress and the Supreme Court of the Nation had previously 
decided that polygamous children born within a year after 
the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker law, were legitimate and 
entitled to inherit after their fathers. Governor Wells, in an 




FEDERAL BUILDING, SALT LAKE CITY. 

early message to the Utah Legislature, recommended the en- 
actment of a law legitimating polygamous children born be- 
fore the first of January, 1897; and such a measure was ac- 
cordingly passed and approved. 

Political Pot-Boilings. — Meanwhile there were various 
mutations in the field of politics. The Democratic Territorial 
Convention, held at Ogden in the autumn of 1895. had nom- 
inated by acclamation Moses Thatcher and Joseph L. Raw- 
lins for United States Senators, to be voted for in the first 
Joint Assembly of the State; but the Reptiblicans having a 
majority in that body. Cannon and Brown were chosen, as al- 
ready mentioned. In April, 1896, the General Authorities of 



510 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued their 
"Political Manifesto," requiring leading men of that organiza- 
tion, before accepting civic office the duties of which would 
interfere with their ecclesiastical engagements, to obtain con- 
sent from those above them in the Priesthood. Mr. Thatcher, 
refusing to sign this declaration, or to be governed by it, was 
no longer upheld as one of the Council of the Twelve. In pro- 
test against the Church's attitude, which, though general, they 
interpreted as favoring the Republican cause, the Democrats 
reconvened their Ogden convention and passed resolutions of 
disapproval. 

Legislature of 1897. — Pursuant to action taken at the spe- 
cial session on Inauguration Day, the Utah State Legislature 
opened its first regular session at Salt Lake City, on Janu- 
ary 11, 1897. Aquilla Nebeker 
was President of the Senate, 
and John M. Perkins Speaker 
of the House. By that time the 
political complexion of the 
law-making body had changed, 
the Republican majority of 
1896 having been superseded 
1)y a Democratic majority, ow- 
ing to the revulsion of feeling 
throughout the West over the 
attitude of the National Repub- 
lican Party on the silver ques- 
tion. The Utah Democracy 
elected not only a majority of 
the Legislature, but also the 
Representative in Congress; 
Clarence E. Allen being suc- 
ceeded by William H. King.* 

Rawlins Chosen Senator.— 
Early in 1897 the Joint Assem- 
bly was the scene of a spirited 
contest for the election of a 
United States Senator, to succeed Arthur Brown, whose term 
was drawing to a close. Day after day the balloting con- 
tinued, and at last Joseph L. Rawlins, of Salt Lake City, was 




WILLIAM H. KING 



*At the St. Louis Convention, where William McKinley was nom- 
inated for President (June, 1896), a plank had been inserted in the 
platform, repudiating bi-metallism and favoring the single gold stand- 
ard. This action caused the Utah delegates, Frank J. Cannon, Clarence 
E. Allen, and Thomas Kearns, to walk out of the Convention. At the 
same time two other Western delegates, Henry M. Teller, of Colorado, 
and Fred T. Dubois, of Idaho, also severed their relations with the 
Republican Party. 



THE FORTY-FIFTH STATE. 



Al 



chosen over his principal rival, Moses Thatcher, of Logan. 
Nearly the entire vote of the Joint Assembly — eighteen Sen- 
ators and forty-five Representatives — was divided between 
Rawlins and Thatcher. The final ballot stood: Rawlins, thirty- 
two; Thatcher, twenty-nine; scattering, two. 

Senator Rawlins took his seat in the upper house of Con- 
gress on March 4th of the same year. As a member of the 
Committee on Public Buildings 
and Grounds, he introduced 
bills for the erection of Federal 
buildings at Salt Lake City 
and Ogden ; the former to cost 
half a million dollars, and the 
latter, two hundred thousand 
dollars Both measures be- 
came laws, and in due time the 
structures were reared and oc- 
cupied by the Government of- 
fices in these cities. 

The Utah Jubilee.— Gov- 
ernor Wells, in his earliest 
messages to the Legislature, 
recommended the holding of 
an Inter-Mountain Fair, to 
commemorate the first half cen- 
tury since the arrival of the 
Pioneers in Salt Lake Valley. 
Subsequently, under authority 
given by the people's represen- 
tatives, he appointed commis- 
sioners, fifteen in number, to conduct the celebration. The 
Semi-Centennial Commission, as it was called, elected as its 
executive officers, Spencer Clawson, chairman; E. G. Rognon, 
secretary; and Mrs. George Y. Wallace, treasurer. The other 
members were Edward F. Colburn, William B. Preston, Hor- 
ace G. Whitney, Elias A. Smith, Jacob Moritz, William A. 
Nelden, H. H. Spencer, Reed Smoot. John D. Spencer, Miss 
Cora Hooper, Miss Emily Katz, and Mrs. R. C. Easton ; all of 
Salt Lake City except H. H. Spencer, Mr. Smoot, and Mrs. 
Easton, representing Ogden, Provo, and Logan respectively. 
The Commission appointed a number of aids, such as Direc- 
tor General Brigham Young, Jr., and Grand Marshal Nat. M. 
Brigham. H. F. McGarvie was Assistant Director General, 
and L. C. Johnson Assistant Secretary. Henry W. Naisbitt 
and Orson F. Whitney were the historians. The Governor 
appointed County Commisioners, representing all parts of the 
State. A fund to meet the expenses of the Jubilee was pro- 




SPENCER CLAW^'ON 



512 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



vided by Legislative appropri- 
ation and by contributions 
from various sources, about 
seventy thousand dollars being- 
realized. The Commissioners 
served without pay. 

Leading Men Invited. — 
The leading men of the Nation 
and of the several States and 
Territories were invited to the 
festivities. Aniung those who 
responded in person was Wil- 
liam Jennings Bryan, who was 
accompanied by his wife. Both 
were numbered among the 
guests of honor. The distin- 
guished Nebraskan was not an 
entire stranger to Utah, having 
previously spoken on the sliver 
question at the Salt Lake The- 
atre, and presided over the 
ninth session of the Trans- 
Mississippi Commercial Con- 
gress, held in the Assembh^ 





PRESIDENT McKINLEY. 



WILLIAM J. BRYAN. 

Hall at Salt Lake City. 

A special invitation, sent 
l)y Governor Wells to Presi- 
dent McKinley, was delivered 
at the White House by a com- 
mittee consisting of President 
George Q. Cannon, Justice 
George W. Bartch, Colonel P. 
H. Lannan, Senator Frank J. 
Cannon, Senator Joseph L. 
Rawlins, and Representative 
William H. King. The Presi- 
tlcnt was much pleased, and 
only the fact that Congress 
was in session, and he could 
not absent himself from his 
post of duty, prevented his 
presence at the celebration. 

The Surviving Veterans. 

— All the surviving Pioneers 
and Emigrants of 1847 were in- 
vited to the Jubilee as guests 



THE FORTY-FIFTH STATl- 



513 



of the State. Those who came were given free transj)tM-tatii)n 
from and to their homes. Seven hundred and twenty-seven 
responses were received, but not half that number were able 
to attend. Twenty-eight of the original Pioneers were then 
living, and twenty-six were present at the great festival. The 
twenty-eight survivors were Wilford Woodruff, Aaron F. 
Farr, George W. Brown, Thomas P. Cloward, Lyman Curtis, 
Isaac P.. Decker, Franklin B. 
Dewey, Ozro F. Eastman, J(^- 
seph Egbert, Green Flake, John 
S. Gleason, Stephen H. God- 
dard, Charles A. Harper, 
Stephen Kelsey, Levi N. Ken- 
dall, Conrad Kleinman, John 
W. Norton, Charles Shumway, 
Andrew P. Shumway, William 
C. A. Smoot, James W. Stew- 
art, Norman Taylor, Horace 
Thornton, William P. Vance, 
Hensen Walker, Sr., George 
Wardle, George Woodward, 
and Lorenzo S. Young. 

The Pioneer Monument. 
■ — The first of the five days de- 
voted to the Jubilee saw the 
unveiling of the Pioneer Mon- 
ument. That day — July 20th 
— -was ushered in with the 
booming of cannon, a signal 
for the gathering of the veter- 
ans of 1847 on the Old Fort 
Square, and their march (318 in number) to the junction of 
Main and South Temple streets, where, in the presence of an 
immense throng, the monument was unveiled and dedicated 
by President Wilford WoodrufT, amid cheers and the roar of 
artillery. The monument, designed by Cyrus Edwin Dallin, 
a native of Springville, Utah, was presented to the State by 
the Brigham Young Memorial Association, under whose aus- 
pices it had been erected by popular subscription. James H. 
Moyle made the presentation speech, and Governor Wells the 
speech of acceptance. An oration by Judge Goodwin, editor 
of the Salt Lake Tribune; an address by Director General 
Brigham Young, Jr., the oldest surviving son of the great 
Pioneer; the singing of "America" by the Tabernacle Choir, 
and the reading of a congratulatory telegram from Dallin, the 
sculptor, then in Paris, were among the features of the 
occasion. Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, of the Roman 
Catholic Church, closed the ceremonies with a benediction. 




EVAN STEPHENS. 



32 



514 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



The Tabernacle Reception. — Durino- the afternoon of that 
day, at a reception in the Tal:>ernac]e. a Ijadge of honor was 




THE PIONEER MONUMENT. 

presented to each veteran as a gift from the State, the pres- 
entation being directed by the Jubilee Commission, and made 
by twenty-seven young ladies, representing the twenty-seven 
counties. The badge, which was of gold, artistically designed 
and wrought, served as a passport to all the festivities and 
amusements controlled by the Commission. At the reception 
a poem written by N. Albert Sherman, and entitled "The Pio- 
neers of Utah," was read by David McKenzie. In the evening, 
at the same place, "The Pioneer Ode" — words by Orson F. 
Whitney, music by Evan Stephens — was sung by the Taber- 
nacle Choir (one thousandvoices), assisted by the Jubilee 
Chorus and the Knights of Pythias Band, all led by Pro- 



THE FORTY-FIFTH STATE. 



515 




fessor Stephens, with Joseph J. 
I )aynes at the origan. 

Additional Features. — Oth- 
ers who lent their talents to 
the varied program of the Ju- 
bilee were B. H. Roberts, R. C. 
Easton, Viola Pratt Gillette, 
Madam Amanda S wen son, 
I'rofessors Thomas Radclift'e, 
Anton C. Pederson and Charles 
J. Thomas; also the United 
States Twenty-fourth Infantry 
Band, and the Ladies' Philo- 
mena Club, of Denver. 

A point of special interest 
during- and after the Fair, was 
the Hall of Relics, built by the 
|iil)ilee Commission on the site 
(if the old Council House, now 
(iccupied by the Deseret News 
Uuilding". An elegant though 
transient edifice, planned after brigiiam voinv,. jk, 

the Parthenon at Athens, and 
suggesting in chaste appear- 
ance and classic outlines the 
structures composing the won- 
derful "White City" at Chi- 
cago, the Hall of Relics, as its 
name implies, was the reposi- 
tory of collections of curios 
and souvenirs of Pioneer times, 
gathered from many sources, 
catalogued, and placed on ex- 
hibition. 

Among the open air pres- 
entations were "The Pageant 
of Progress," illustrating the 
growth of Utah during fifty 
years; "The Children's Pa- 
rade," in which ten thousand 
pupils of the district and sab- 
bath schools took part; "The 
Illuminated Parade, or Great 
Salt Lake, Real and Fanciful ;" 
"The Parade of the Counties," 

comprising floats carrying natural and industrial products; 

and finally "The Pioneer Parade," the crowning feature of 




C. E. DALLTX. 



516 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

the festival, and probably the most extensive and varied 
spectacle of its kind ever seen in the West. 

At one of the gatherings in the Tabernacle, President 
Woodruff was crowned with a wreath of flowers by a beau- 
tiful little girl, a granddaughter of President John Taylor. 
On the day of the Children's Parade, the little ones, as they 
passed the Pioneer Monument, strewed flowers upon it until 
the base was hidden. It remained, however, for the grand 




FEDERAL BUILDING, OGDEN. 

reproduction of the Pioneer Train and Hand-Cart Company to 
create the climax of pathos and bring tears to almost every 
e}'e. In a display of fireworks from Capitol Hill, on the night 
of the Twenty-fourth, the Jubilee expired in a blaze of glory. 
The Book of the Pioneers. — As a fitting finale to their 
splendid labors, the Commission authorized the compilation 
of "The Book of the Pioneers," a unique publication in two vol- 
umes, bound in native leather, gold, silver, and copper, and 
containing, in addition to historical and descriptive articles on 
the Jubilee, the signatures and biographical outlines of all 
surviving Pioneers and Immigrants who came to Salt Lake 
Valley during the last three years of the "forties," together 
with full lists and other data pertaining to the original Pioneer 
Company. These volumes were compiled by the author of this 
History, from materials mostly collated by Henry W. Nais- 
bitt. The Book is now in the public archives, having been 
presented to the State by the Commissioners who conducted 
so successfullv the Utah Pioneer Jubilee. 



XXXV. 

WAR AND POLITICS. 

1898-1916. 
Enlistment of Volunteers. — At the outbreak of the Span- 
ish War the Federal Government called upon Utah for five 
hundred volunteers, to serve in the Nation's cause. It may 
be mentioned as a coincidence that the same number of men 
were required from the prospective founders of this State at 
the time of the enlistment of the "Mormon" Battalion. Then 
it was the Government's recruiting officer who made known 
the wishes of his superiors to a 
people encamped upon the 
Iowa frontier. Now it was the 
Governor of Utah who issued 
a proclamation, inviting younq 
and able-bodied men to enlist. 
Willard Young, Richard W. 
Young, John Q. Cannon, Frank 
A. Grant, Ray C. Naylor, Jo- 
seph E. Caine, George E. 
Downey, and George W. Gibbs 
were sent as recruiting ofiicers 
to the principal towns. On 
May 1st, 1898, five days after 
the date of the proclamation. 
Governor Wells telegraphed to 
the War Department that the 
full quota of troops had been 
obtained. 

The Utah Batteries. — Utah 
possessed eight field guns of 
the latest model, procured from 
the War Department at the 
time of the reorganization of the militia under Governor West. 
It was largely owing to this fact that the State was called upon 
to furnish two batteries of light artillery at the beginning of 
the war with Spain. They were mustered into service at 
Fort Douglas, on the 9th of May, by Lieutenant Briant H. 
Wells, of the United States Army. Battery A was organized 
with Richard W. Young, and Battery B with Frank A. Grant, 
as Captain. The former, who had seen service in the regular 
army as Lieutenant of Artillery and Captain in the Corps of 
Judge Advocates, has already received mention in these pages. 
Captain Grant was originally a Canadian, a graduate of the 
old Kingston Military Academy, and had resided in this State 
since 1889, engaged in mining, real estate and insurance busi- 




CAPTAIN R. W. YOUNG. 



518 WHITNEY'S I'Ol'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

ness. He was Colonel of the First Infantry in the Utah Na- 
tional Guard.* 

The A and B Batteries, consisting- mainly of "Mormon" 
and "Cientile" youths, many of them sons of sires who had 
built up the State, were ordered to report to General Mcrritt, 
at San Francisco. They left Salt Lake City on the 20th of 
May, and under command of General Francis V. Green 

*"The Nauvoo Legion," as the Utah Militia was originally styled, 
had been rendered inactive by Governor Shaffer's prohibitory procla- 
mation of September, 1870, and had been formally abolished by the 
Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887. The Legislature, in March, 1894, auth- 
orized the Governor to enroll "The National Guard of Utah," to con- 
sist of not more than three regiments of infantry, two regiments of 
cavalry, and two batteries of light artillery. Within the next seven 
months the artillery, with fourteen companies of infantry and three 
troops of cavalry, were enlisted. During the years the Territory had 
been without a militia organization a credit of about eighty thousand 
dollars had accumulated under the Act of Congress making annual 
appropriations for the National Guard. Seventy-two thousand dollars 
of this amount was now expended for uniforms and equipment. The 
infantry were armed with Springfield rifles, the cavalry with sabers 
and carbines, and the batteries with eight steel cannon and two Gat- 
ling guns. The counties of Salt Lake, Weber, Utah, Davis, Cache, 
Box Elder, Morgan, Tooele, Sanpete, Sevier, and Garfield were repre- 
sented in this enlistment. 

The first service rendered by the Guard was in connection with 
one of the industrial "armies" of that period, which passed through 
Utah a few weeks after the enactment of the new militia law. Twelve 
hundred men. without money, supplies, or any means of subsistence, 
organized by "GeneraT'Ivelley in California, had been loaded into freight 
cars of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and brought, at the rate of fifty 
cents each, as far as OgdeiD; thence to make their way, as best they could, 
to Washington, D. C, and join with siinilar bodies in demanding of 
Congress legislation for the relief of the working classes. Finding 
that no provision had been made for transporting the men eastward, 
and fearing that they would remain and become a public charge. Gov- 
ernor West called out the militia and put the so-called army under 
guard. In taking this step he acted in harmony with the authorities 
of Ogden City and Weber County. Mayor Baskin, of Salt Lake City, 
also tendered the services of thirty men commanded by the Chief of 
Police. Orders of court, issued by Chief Justice Merritt and Associate 
Justice Miner, forbade the strangers to remain in Utah, or to leave the 
Ogden depot grounds until arrangements could be made for their 
transportation. The result was that Kelley and his followers, fed and 
supplied with money by the warm-hearted people of the Junction City, 
were put upon Union Pacific cars at Uintah, and carried out of the 
Territory. 

During Ma_y a like "army" of three or four hundred men, organ- 
ized in Utah by "General" Carter, took possession of a Union Pacific 
train at Lehi, and ran it upon the Rio Grande Western (D. & R. G.) 
track as far as Provo, where it was derailed. The Industrials held 
the train, refusing to surrender it to the officers of the road, and this 
caused further intervention by the Governor and the militia. Carter 
and some of his men were arrested and imprisoned. The remainder, 
riding upon freight trains, finally reached Colorado, where they dis- 
banded. 



\\'.\R AND POLITICS. 



519 




CAPTAIN F. A. GRANT. 



sailed as part of the second ex- 
pedition to the Philippine 
Islands. A third battery, with 
Frank W. Jennings as Captain, 
was organized on the 12th of 
July. They were also ordered 
to San Francisco, and per- 
formed garrison duty in the 
forts of that harbor. Upon the 
enlistment of Battery C, the 
Utah Artillery became a bat- 
talion, with Richard W. Young 
as Major in command. 

Other Military Organiza- 
tions. — Utah also raised for ser- 
vice at that time a troop of cav 
airy commanded by Captain 
Joseph E, Caine ; and Troop I 
of Torrey's Rough Riders, with 
John 0. Cannon as Captain. Both 
these young ofificers were sons of 
men who had represented Utah 
in Congress. Captain Caine's cavalry, ordered to the Pacific 
Coast, rendered valuable service in patroling the Yosemitc 

and Sequoia national parks. 
The Rough Riders joined their 
regiment at Cheyenne, Wyom- 
ing, and proceeded thence to 
Jacksonville, Florida, where 
they encamped with other 
troops, awaiting any call that 
might come from the seat of 
war. 

Willard Young, another 
Utah man, was appointed by 
President McKinley Colonel of 
the Second United States Vol- 
unteer Engineers. A son of 
President Brigham Young, he, 
like his nephew, Richard W., 
was a West Point graudatc. 
lie had been Captain in the 
United States Engineers, doing 
service in different parts of the 
country. When the war brok? 
out he was Brigadier General 
CAPTAIN J. E. CAINE. in thc Utah National duard. 




520 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



His new command consisted of 
twelve hundred men, recruited 
from various States. Of the 
fifty furnished by Utah, all but 
two were assigned to duty in 
the Hawaiian Islands. Colonel 
Young went with the main 
body of his regiment to Mon- 
tauk Point, Long Island, where 
the engineers served efficiently 
in preparing a camp for soldiers 
returning, from Cuba. They 
were afterwards ordered to 
that country, and were the first 
United States troops to arrive 
at Havana. There, in December, 
1898, they began to prepare 
quarters for the American army. 
Utah at the Front. — 
Lieutenant (now Major) 
Briant H. Wells, named in con- 
nection with the mustering in 
of the Utah batteries, was a 
vounger brother to Governo 




COLONEL WILLARD YOLTNG. 



v'-^T-iipsBiR?g«*..-:, 








\ 




^^Khb^ 


^ 


1 
1 


M'W^ 


1 


1 



LIEUTENANT WELLS. 



Wells. He served with his reg- 
iment, the Second United 
States Infantry, under General 
Shafter in Cuba, and was 
wounded at the battle of .Santi- 
ago. The Twenty-fourth In- 
fan.tr^^ a colored regiment sta- 
tioned at Fort Douglas, also 
li'ok part in that engagement. 
Another native son. Ensign 
Henry A. Pearson, of Draper, 
was with Admiral Dewey in 
the battle of Manila Bay. 

Pioneer Day in 1898 was 
ilevoted throughout Utah to 
the holding of memorial ser- 
vices for the American sailors 
who went down with the 
"Maine." The people of the 
.State gave a generous contribu- 
tion toward the erection of a 
national monument in honor of 
the dead. 



WAR AND I'OIJTICS. 



521 



Batteries A and B sailed for the Philippines on the 15th 
of June, reaching their destination about the middle of July. 
They disembarked at Camp Dewey, on the shore of Manila 
Bay. The Spanish army. was 
then cooped up in Manila, al- 
most entirely surrounded by 
the Philippine forces under 
Aguinaldo. A detachment 
from each battery, thrown into 
the trenches half a mile south 
of the Spanish fortifications, re- 
pelled attacks upon the Ameri- 
can lines during the last night 
of July and through the suc- 
ceeding fortnight. On the 13th 
of August the Utah artillery 
joined with Admiral Dewey in 
bombarding Fort San Antonio 
de Abad and the Spanish 
trenches. The combined Amer- 
ican and Filipino attack re- 
sulted in the capture of the 
city. 

Subsequently the Utah bat- 
teries were assigned, with other 
artillery from the regular 
forces, to Major Mc Arthur's 
division of the Eighth Army Corps, and Major Young be- 
came divisional chief of artillery. The batteries, each orig- 
inally comprising one hundred and twenty-one officers and 
men, were now recruited to their full strength of one hun- 
dred and seventy-three. At the time of the Filipino outbreak 
(February, 1809) they rendered most efficient service, taking 
part in numerous engagements against the insurgent forces. 
Captain Grant was assigned to the command of several gun- 
boats operating on Manila Bay and in the rivers and lakes, 
and with other Utah soldiers gave valiant naval assistance to 
the army. 

Major Young relinquished his command of the Battalion 
in June of that year, having been a])pointed a member of the 
Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands. Captain Grant was 
appointed Major to llll the vacancy. Uieutenant John F. 
Critchlow then l)ccame Captain of Battery B ; Lieutenant 
Edgar A. Wedgewood having been made captain of Battery 
A some time before. 

Return of the Volunteers. — Several weeks later the Utah 
troops, honorably relieved from duty in the Philippines, sailed 




CAI'TAIX !•:. A. WKDGKVVOOD. 



522 A\^H1TNEY'S POl'ULAR HIS'I'ORY OF UTAH. 



for San Francisco, where they were mustered out of service 
on the 16th of August. They reached Salt Lake City on the 
19th and were greeted with enthusiasm by their grateful and 
admiring- fellow citizens. Major Young and Major Grant, the 
former on leave from his judicial post, both rode at the head 
of the military column from the railroad depot to Liberty 
Park, the main scene of the festivities. It was a general holi- 
day, and other towns held similar celebrations to welcome 

home their returning heroes. 

Those who Fell. — Among 
the Utah men killed in the 
Philippines, was Dr. Harry A. 
Young, of Salt Lake City. He 
had been Quarter-master Ser- 
geant of Battery A, and his 
commission as First Lieutenant 
and z'\ssistant Sergeant of the 
Utah Artillery was on the way 
when he was slain. The new 
titles were afterwards con- 
firmed upon him by Congress. 
Others who fell in battle were 
Sergeant Ford Fisher, Corporal 
John G. Young. Private Wil- 
helm T. Goodman, of Battery 
A ; and Corporal M. C. Jensen, 
Privates George A. Hudson, 
Fred A. Bumiller, and Max 
Maddison, of Battery B. Those 
dying from other causes were 
Corporals George O. Larson 
and John T. Kennedy, Privates 
Charles Parson, Oscar A. Feninger, and Richard H. Ralph. 
Many of the volunteers were wounded during the various 
fights and skirmishes. The bodies of Harry A. Young, John 
G. Young. Ford Fisher, Charles Parsons, and Wilhelm T. 
Goodman were brought home for burial. 

Judge Goodwin's Tribute. — No troops in the Philippines 
achieved more distinction for bravery and efficiency than the 
Utah Batteries. Judge C. C. Goodwin, in the course of an 
eloquent tribute, said of them : "The necessities of the war 
made them ubiquitous ; they were everywhere, on river, on 
land; and when a stronghold was to be stormed, their guns 
first cleared the way, until, in an army where all were heroes, 
the men of Utah made for themselves a conspicuous name. 
They earned it, for they never retreated, never lost a battle or 




DR. HARRY A. YOUNG. 



WAR AND POIJTJCS. 



523 



a flag, never started iuv the foe that they did not scatter it as 
the wind scatters the chaff from the threshing floor. When 
their terms of enlistment expired they fought on, week after 
week, until their places could be supplied. The record of the 
volunteers is nowhere dimmed. They went away boys; they 
returned men. They made for themselves great names, and 
by their deeds exalted the name of their State . They have 
w'on for themselves an appreciative people's gratitude, a Na- 
ti(m's praise." 

The Carbon County Strike. 
— In November, 1903. a strike 
of coal miners in Carbon 
County created a situation of 
sufficient gravity to justify the 
calling out of several companies 
of militia. The strikers, em- 
ployed by the Utah Fuel Com- 
pany, where members of the so- 
ciety known as "The United 
Mine Workers of America," un 
der the orders of whose presi- 
dent, John Mitchell, the strike 
took place. Most of the twelve 
hundred men leaving work were 
Italians. Few were native 
Americans or permanent citi- 
zens of Utah. It was a sympa- 
thetic strike, designed to influ- 
ence the outcome of a similar 
movement in Colorado. Here 
there was no real grievance, 
every privilege for which the 

Colorado miners were contending being enjoyed by the miners 
in this State. Said Governor Wells : "While I am an advocate 
of the legitimate rights of organized labor, I object to and will 
lesist any attempt to visit upon the people of this State the 
sins of another State. W^e were foremost to legalize the eight- 
hour day in Utah, and instead of applauding, assisting, and re- 
specting us for it, these agitators are seeking to punish us. It 
will not do. As long as I am Governor, I shall resist the tyran- 
nical and unlawful interference of individuals or unions with 
the peaceable pursuits of the citizens of this State." For the 
protection of miners, who desired to continue at work, but 
were threatened with violence by the agitators and their fol- 
lowers, the Governor sent troops, under Brigader-General 
John Q. Cannon, to the scene of trouble. Detachments were 
assigned to duty at Scofield. Castle Gate, and Sunnyside. No 




GENKRAT. CAXXON, 



524 WHITNEY'S POI'UI.AR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



fitjhting occurred, though a number of persons were arrested, 
including an Italian, one Demolli, and a woman agitator known 
as "Mother Jones." The militiamen remained on duty two 
months, and their presence gave peace, with protection to life 
and property.* 

Ecclesiastical Changes. — So much for military matters iti 
the new-fledged State of Utah. Turn we now to events par- 
alleling some of those already 
narrated. In September, 1898, 
occurred the death of President 
Wilford Woodrufl:'. The last 
public act of the aged Pioneer 
was the delivery of a speech, on 
July 24th. at the dedication of 
Pioneer Square as one of the 
parks of Salt Lake City. A few 
days later he set out for the Pa- 
cific Coast, and was there taken 
ill, breathing his last at the 
home of Colonel Isaac Trumbo. 
in San Francisco. President 
Woodruff's successor was 
Lorenzo Snow, who chose for 
his Counselors those of his pre- 
decessor. 

President Snow's tenure of 
the office was brief, but was 
characterized by great activity. 
In the short space of three 
years he and his associates, by the exercise of rare financial 
wisdom, did much to lift from the shoulders of the Church a 
heavy burden of debt, largely resulting from the confiscation 
of its property by the Government. President Snow died in 
October, 1901, and was succeeded by his First Counselor, 
Joseph F. Smith ; the former First Counselor, George O. Can- 
Vion, having passed away in the preceding April. President 
Smith, choosing John R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund for 
Counselors, began his administration on the 17th of October. 
A strong and forceful character, and withal a sagacious and 
careful financier, he soon had the Church entirely out of debt 
and on the way to a period of prosperity, such as it had never 
experienced. t 




PRESIDENT SMITH. 



*Carbon County had witnessed, in Alay, 1900. a very disastrous 
explosion in the coal mines at Winter Quarters, near Scofield. About 

two Imndred miners, mostly forei^a^ners, were killed in this terrible ac- 
cident. 

tjudgc Goodwin, former editor of the Tribune, and now (1916) 



WAR AND POT.TTICS: 



525 



The Roberts Case. — November, 1898, witnessed tbe elec- 
tion of B. H. Roberts to Congress, as the candidate of the 
Democratic Party of Utah. 
On the same ticket Robert N. 
Baskin was chosen Chief Jus- 
tice of the State. Mr. Roberts 
had represented Davis County 
in the Constitutional Conven- 
tion, and was one of the ablest 
and most influential members 
of that body. In the autumn of 
1895 he ran for Congress 
against Clarence E. Allen, Re- 
publican, and met defeat. Nom- 
inated a second time for Rep- 
resentative, he was successful 
in the face of the most strenu- 
ous opposition. 

The usual partisan influ- 
ences were not all that Mr. 
Roberts liad to contend with ; in 
addition thereto, a charge of 
polygamy was urged against 
him. The agitation became so 
intense and wide-spread, that 
the Governor of the State, fearing its effect upon the easily 
awakened prejudice of the Nation, advised the people, througli 
the press, to defeat Mr. Roberts. But all to no purpose; he 
was triumphantly elected, and that, too, by "Gentile" rather 




REPRESENT. \TI\'E ROI'.Eir 



presiding over the columns of Goodwin's Weekly, a periodical pub- 
lished at Salt Lake City, draws the following pen portrait of the pres- 
ent-day "Mormon" leader: 

"A more kindly and benevolent man has seldom held an exalted 
ecclesiastical position than President Josepli F. Smith, of the Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Passing down the seventy-seventh 
j^ear of the highway of life, and living witli broad tolerance of the 
affairs of men, he stands a commanding influence in his State. To his 
people he is the great spiritual leader. To men at large, he is a man 
of wide sympathies, great business acumen, and a born leader of tlie 
great institution of which he is the head. One who has known him for 
two generations says of him: 'Once stern and unrelenting, he has mel- 
lowed as the years go on, until he sees but the good in humanitj', and 
forgives men their trespasses.' " "Under his direction the Church has 
grown in power until it is accounted one of the most perfectly organ- 
ized bodies in existence. As Trustee of the vast properties of the 
Church, he has become one of its greatest financial leaders. His life all 
these years has been lived with great simplicitJ^ constant labor, and 
great personal frugalitj'. He stands today a patriarch ruling with a 
gentle hand over a people blessed with such prosperity as few reli- 
gious bodies have ever known." 



526 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

than by "Mormon" votes; his heaviest majorities being in 
communities almost exclusively non-"Mormon." The general 
returns gave him a plurality of five thousand six hundred and 
sixty-five. The scene then changed, and another battle was 
fought, in which his opponents were victorious. 

Excluded from Congress. — The ultimate defeat of the 
Utah Reijresentati\e was encuni])assed mainly through the 
efforts of the Ministerial Association of Salt Lake City, aided 
by the Tribune, and powerfully re-inforced by churches, wom- 
en's organizations, and other influential agencies in the East. 
Hearst's New York Journal, foremost among sensational 
newspapers, fiercely assailed Mr. Roberts upon the assump- 
tion that a religious instead of a political organization had 
elected him. The wealthy philanthropist, Miss Helen Gould, 
v/as persuaded to join in this fight against the so-called 
"menace to the American home," meaning polygamy, which 
became the slogan of the nation-wide campaign . Mr. Rob- 
erts and others of his faith were falsely accused of aiming to 
restore the inhibited practice. His candidacy was pointed to 
as proof that the "Mormon" Church had determined to thrust 
this objectionable feature down the throat of Congress; and 
it was asserted that Utah, by permitting his election, had 
broken her compact with the Nation — a compact represented 
by the Enabling Act and the State Constitution. Both these 
instruments prohibited plural marriages, but were silent re- 
garding polygamous living under relations formed prior to 
the issuance of the Manifesto. Mr. Roberts was the hus- 
band of more than one wife, but he contended that his marital 
status was irrelevant to the issue. As the duly elected candi- 
date, not of a church, but of a political party comprising "Gen- 
tile" as well as "Mormon" citizens, who had chosen him to 
represent the State in Congress, he stood squarely upon his 
right and demanded his seat in the House of Representatives. 

But nothing could quell the clamor, nor overcome the op- 
position arrayed against him. The House, refusing to allow 
him to be sworn in, referred his case to a special committee, 
a majority of whom recommended that he be not seated. 
After a spirited discussion, in the course of which a strong and 
eloquent protest was voiced by the Representative elect, the 
House, on the 25th of January, 1500, voted to exclude him. 
The vote stood 50 in favor of, and 244 against, the gentleman 
from Utah ; 36 members not voting. 

Representatives King and Sutherland. — The result in the 
Roberts case made necessary a special election, which took 
place in April, when William H. King was chosen a second 
time Utah's Representative in Congress. His term was neces- 
sarily brief, the recent contest having consumed the greater 



WAR AND P(JL1T1CG. 



527 




part of the period for which Mr. Roberts had l:)een elected. 
Judi^e King was not destined to succeed himself. At the reg- 
ular election in Noveml)er, the Republicans were victorious, 
and George Sutherland be- 
came Representative. Kini; 
and Sutherland, the former 
a "Mormon," the latter a 
"Gentile." were both natives 
of the State and prominent 
hivvyers of Salt Lake City. 

The McCune Candidacy. 

— The same election that 
sent Mr. Roberts to Con- 
gress gave a Democratic ma- 
jority to the Utah Legis- 
lature, and when that body 
convened in January, 1899, it 
was expected that a United 
States Senator would be 
chosen, to succeed Frank J. 
Cannon. Mr. Cannon was 
then a Silver Republican, 
seeking re-election by fusion 
votes, mostly from Weber 
County, where he resided. 
The leading Democratic candidate was Alfred W. McCune, 
a wealthy mining man of Salt Lake City. The contest was 
stubborn and protracted, the Democrats being much divided. 
McCune was within one or two votes of election, when, just 
before the taking of the 122nd ballot, he was charged bv Repre- 
sentative Albert A. Law, of Cache County, with attempting 
to bribe him, by ofifering fifteen hundred dollars for his vote. 
Law was a Republican, but had joined with the Fusionists in 
supporting Cannon. McCune denied the charge, and the As- 
sembly ordered an' investigation. After a diligent inquiry, 
five of the investigating committee reported that the evidence 
did not sustain the accusation. The remaining two committee- 
men filed a dissenting opinion. The final ballot — the 149th — 
was cast at midnight on the 8th of March; with the following 
result: Alfred W. McCune. 25; George Q. Cannon, LS ; Wil- 
liam H. King. 12; Frank J. Cannon, 7; George Sutherland, 3. 
Necessary to a choice, 32. The Assembly dissolved without 
electing a United States Senator. 

Senator Kearns and "The Hierarchy." — The Senatorial 
seat remained vacant until January, 1901, when the Republi- 
cans, regaining control of the Legislature, selected Thomas 
Kearns for the place. Mr. Kearns was a rich mining man. one 



RRI'RKSRXTATIVK Sl-TII KRI.A XI). 



528 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



of the principal owners of the famous Silver King property at 
Park City. In 1905 he emphasized his retirement from Con- 
gress with a speech upon the floor of the Senate attacking 
"The Mormon Hierarchy:" About the same time the Salt 
Lake Tribune re-opened its batteries against the Church. 
Alleged religious influence in politics, commercialism, and th.' 
recrudescence of polygamy, were the principal charges hurled 

at the "Mormon" leaders. 
Later, these subjects were ex- 
ploited in a number of popular 
magazines — Pearson's, Every- 
body's, McClure's and the Cos- 
mopolitan — some of which sent 
special representati\'es to Utah. 
The American Party. — 
Meanwhile the American Par- 
ty had been born. The first 
movement toward its organiza- 
tion took place in the autunui 
of 1904. It was virtually an at- 
tempt to revive the Liberal or 
"Anti-Mormon" party, which 
had passed out of existence 
during the previous decade. 
The attempt was successful 
only in part, many of the old 
Liberals holding aloof. Never- 
theless the Americans thrice 
elected the government of 
Salt Lake City, and held it from 
1905 to 1911. At the end of that period, a majority of the citi- 
zens, "Mormons" and "Gentiles," including many ex-"Amer- 
icans," combined against the new party and snowed it under 
at the polls.* The Utah capital then adopted the commission 
form of government. 

Senator Sutherland, Representative Howell, Et Al. — 
Senator Kearns was succeeded by Senator George Sutherland. 




SENATOR KEARNS. 



*"The American Party," says a "Gentile" chronicler, "was a 
rebuke to actual or supposed Church activity in politics. It was to the 
city of Salt Lake what the Liberal Party had been to the State; that 
is to say, the decided Anti-Mormon party; the line of cleavage was a 
religious one. While the party was probably formed in good faith, its 
machinery rapidly fell into the hands of the sinister and unscrupulous 
element of Salt Lake City. This element had no other aim but to 
gain protection in certain notorious occupations. It used the Mormon 
bugahoo for all there was in it, and in this way made the good Gentiles 
of Salt Lake City the means of keeping it in power. The .\merican 
Partv finally grew so bad that many of the decent Gentiles deserted it, 
fearing its motives more than the scare of Mormon domination."— 
Tames IT. Wolfe, in "The Utrih Survey," March-April. 1916. 



WAR AND POLITICS. 



529 



who has continued in ofiice down to the present time. Suth- 
erland's successor as Representative was Joseph Howell, a 
merchant of Wellsville, who had represented Cache County 
in the Le.s;islature. It was in 1902 that he was chosen for 
Congress. Mr. Howell was many times elected, btit failed 
of renomination in 1916. Meanwhile Utah had become en- 
titled to another Representative, and Jacob Johnson, Repub- 
lican, of Sanpete County, was chosen from the First Congress- 
ional District. This district comprises all the counties, ex- 
cepting Salt Lake, Utah, Davis, and Tooele, which constitute 
the Second Congressional District. Mr. Johnson retired in 
1915. In 1914 James H. Mays, Democratic-Progressive, was 
elected Representative for the Second District. 

The Smoot Investigation. — The election of Reed Smoot, 
Republican, to succeed Joseph L. Rawlins, Democrat, in the 
upper house of Congress, gave 
rise to a contest unparalleled in 
the history of the State or of 
the Nation. Mr. Smoot, a resi- 
dent of Provo, was and is still 
an Apostle of the "Mormon" 
Church, and one of the ablest 
financial men in Utah. He an- 
nounced his candidacy for the 
United States Senate in May, 
1902, and was elected in the fol- 
lowing January, receiving 
forty-five of the sixty-three 
votes in the Joint Assembly of 
the Legislature. He presented 
his credentials at the opening 
of the extra session of Congress 
in February, and was sworn in 
without objection. His right 
to the seat had been questioned, 
and certain protests had been 
filed against him, but the Sen- 
ate, pursuing the usual course, 
admitted him pending further 

developments. Ten months elapsed, and then began an in- 
vestigation that was destined to give the Utah Senator a world- 
wide renown. 

Protests from Utah. — There were two protests against 
the seating of Senator Smoot, both emanating from "Gentile" 
sources in Utah. One paper was signed by Reverend 
John L, Leilich, Methodist minister, and the other by eighteen 
prominent citizens, including Dr. William M. Paden, Pastor 




REPRESENTATIX'K HOW EI. I-. 



33 



530 WHITNFA''S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



of the Presbyterian Church, and Bishop Abiel Leonard, of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church, at the Utah capital. Judge 
Goodwin, editor of the Tribune ; C. E. Allen, former Congress- 
man ; Ezra Thompson, Ex-Mayor of Salt Lake City; and E. 
B. Critchlow, of the Utah Bar, also put their signatures to the 

second TDrotest, the materials 
for which had been furnished 
by Mr. Paden and the Minister- 
ial Association. These docu- 
ments, with Senator Smoot's 
credentials and reply, and a pe- 
tition in his favor signed by 
forty Utah citizens, thirty- 
eight of them "Gentiles," were 
referred to the Committee on 
Privileges and Elections. Sen- 
ator Julius C. Burrows, of 
Michigan, was chairman of that 
Committee, the other members 
I if it being Senators George 
V. Hoar of Massachusetts, 
Louis E. McComas of Mary- 
land, Joseph B. Eoraker of 
< )hio, Chauncey M. Depew of 
Xew York, Albert J. Bever- 
idge of Indiana, William P. 
Dillingham of New Hampshire, 
Albert J. Hopkins of Illinois, 
Edmund W. Pettus of Ala- 
l)ama, Fred T. Dul)uis of Idaho, Joseph W. Bailey of Texas, 
Lee S. Overman of North Carolina, and James P. Clark of 
Arkansas. Subsequently Senator P. C. Knox, of Pennsyl- 
vania, took the place made vacant bv the death of Senator 
Hoar; while Senator Jonathan P. DoUiver, of Iowa, succeeded 
Senator McComas at the expiration of his term. 

At the Bar of the Nation. — The Smoot case was taken up 
early in 1904. The inquiry, which was searching and thorough, 
extended through a period of three years. The ostensible pur- 
pose was to investigate the right and title of the Senator from 
Utah to the seat he occupied; but Mr. Smoot and his individual 
cause were nearly lost sight of in the greater sensation of a 
virtual arraignment of the "Mormon" Church before a leading 
committee of the United States Senate. The head of the 
Church was one of those summoned to Washington to testify. 
The prosecution was conducted by two former Congressmen 
— Robert W. Tayler, of Ohio, who had led the opposition to 
Mr. Roberts in the House of Representatives; and John C. 




SENATOR SMOOT. 



WAR AND POLITICS. 



531 



Carlisle, of Kentucky, who had been Speaker of the House. 
The attorneys for the defense were A. S. Worthington, of 
Washington. D. C, and Waldemar Van Cott, of Salt Lake 
City. 

Basis of Proceedings. — ^Mr. Leilich had accused Senator 
Smoot of polygamy, that is, with "having a legal and a plural 
wife." There was absolutely no ground for such a charge, the 
Senator having but one wife, and this part of the indictment 
was ignored at the outset of 
the Committee's deliberations. 
The Paden protest contained 
the following allegations: 

(1.) Mr. Smoot is one of 
a self-perpetuating body of 
men, known as the First Presi- 
dency and Twelve Apostles of 
the Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints, commonly 
known as the Mormon Church ; 

(2.) These men claim di- 
\ine authority to control the 
members of said Church in all 
things, temporal as well as 
spiritual ; 

(3.) This authority is, 
and has been for several years 
past, so exercised by the said 
First Presidency and Twelve 
Apostles as to encourage the 
practice of polygamy and 
polygamous cohabitation in the 
State of Utah and elsewhere, 
contrary to the Constitution 
and laws of the State of Utah and the law of the land : 

(4.) The said First Presidency and Twelve Apostles do 
now control, and for a long time past have controlled, the 
political affairs of the State of Utah, and have thus brought 
about therein a union of Church and State, contrary to the 
Constitution of the State of Utah, and the Constitution of llie 
United States. 

These charges, with the further statement that Senator 
Smoot had subscribed to an oath of such character that he was 
"thereby disqualified from taking the oath of oPRce required of 
a United States Senator," formed the basis of proceedini^s 
in this celel)rated case. 

The "Mormon" Leader Testifies. — It was during March, 
1904, that President Joseph F. Smith testified before the Com- 




P.ISIIOP LEONARD. 



532 WHlTNLi :^ l'OPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



niittee. In answer to questions put to him by Mr. Tayler he 
admitted that he had lived with all his wives — five in number 
— and that they had borne him eleven children since the year 
1890. He had done this knowing the responsibility, and that 
he was amenable to the law. 

Chairman Burrows. — "Mr. Smith, I will not press it, but 

I will ask you if you have any 
objection to stating how many 
children you have in all?" 

President Smith. — "I have 
had borne to me, sir, forty-two 
children — twenty-one boys and 
twenty-one girls — and I am 
proud of every one of them." 

Chairman Burrows. — "Do 
you obey the law in having five 
wives at this time, and having 
them bear to you eleven chil- 
dren since the Manifesto of 
1890?" 

President Smith.— "Mr. 
Chairman, I have not claimed 
that in that case I have obeyed 
the law of the land. * * * 
I do not claim so, and, as I said 
before, I prefer to stand my 
chances against the law." 

The Case for the Prosecu- 
tion. — The purpose of this 
cjuestioning was to show that 
since those living in polygamous relations were polygamists in 
the sight of the law, by sustaining and upholding as a member 
of the Church such men as President Smith, Senatot Smoot 
countenanced and encouraged polygamy. It was charged that 
two of the Apostles, John W. Taylor and Matthias F. Cowley, 
had evaded service of process issued for their appearance, 
and had refused to come before the Committee when requested 
to do so. The claim that these men had been "dropped from the 
list of Apostles," for being "out of harmony with their as- 
sociates upon the question of the further practice of polyg- 
amy," was said to merit no consideration, having been "done 
for popular effect." 

To sustain the charge of political domination on the part 
of the Church, it was asserted that in the State of Idaho, where 
many Latter-day Saints resided, candidates for office, in order 
to succeed, must first visit Salt Lake City and make arrange- 




WALDEMAR VAN COTT. 



WAR AND POLITICS. 533 

intnts with the "Mormon" leaders, and that whatever they de- 
sired to have done, or left undone, either by legislative or ad- 
ministrative power, would result. The history of a measure 
introduced in the Utah Legislature during 1901 was cited to 
sustain the theory of Church influence in matters of legisla- 
tion. That measure was the Evans Bill, the enactment of 
which was sought for the purpose of checking the operations 
of one Charles Mostyn Owen, a spy and an informer, em- 
ployed, as was believed, by the Salt Lake Ministerial Associa- 
tion, to work up prosecutions against men, many of them aged 
and infirm, who, trusting to the tolerance of their "Gentile" 
neighbors, had continued to live with their plural families not- 
withstanding the Manifesto and the inhibitions of the law. 
It was intimated that the Church had dictated, first to the 
Legislature, thus securing the passage of the Evans Bill, and 
afterwards, for prudential reasons, to the Governor, inducing 
him to veto it. As an instance of the exercise of ecclesiastical 
authority in political afifairs, the case of Moses Thatcher was 
mentioned. It was alleged that this Apostle had been de- 
posed, and defeated in his Senatorial candidacy, because of his 
disobedience to the dictation of the First Presidency and the 
Twelve. 

Senator Smoot's oj)ponents maintained that he was meas- 
urably responsible for the conduct of the organization of which 
he was a member, and therefore accountable in part for these 
alleged acts of political domination by religious authority. 
Moreover, it was urged that, having taken an oath in "the 
endowment ceremonies" of his Church, to avenge the blood of 
Joseph Smith upon this Nation, he was not in a position to dis- 
charge the obligation resting upon a Senator of the United 
States. 

The Burrows Resolution. — Chairman Burrows and six 
others of the Committee — Senators Dolliver, Pettus, Dubois, 
Bailey, Overman, and Clark — in a report submitted to the Sen- 
ate, June 11th, 1906. said: "The more deliberately and care- 
fully the testimony taken on the investigation is considered, 
the more irresistibly it leads to the conclusion that the facts 
stated in the protest are true." Upon this finding they pre- 
sented a resolution to the effect that Reed Smoot was not 
entitled to a seat as a Senator of the United States from the 
State of Utah. 

The Opposite View. — Five mcml)crs of the Committee — 
Senators Forakcr. Beveridge, Dillingham, Hopkins, and 
Knox — disagreed with their fellows, and filed dissenting views. 
They declared that Reed Smoot possessed all the qualifications 
prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to make 
him eligible to a seat in the Senate. There had been no irregu- 



534 WHITNEY'S TOPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

larity in his election, and his private life and character were 
irreproachable. He was not a polygamist, and was opposed to 
plural marriages. The testimony as to the so-called "endow- 
ment oath" was not only limited, vague and indefinite, Imt 
"utterly unreliable, because of the disreputable and untrust- 
worthy character of the witnesses." No ground had been 
established upon which to predicate a finding and belief that 
Mr. Smoot ever took any obligation involving hostility to the 
Government, or requiring him to regard his allegiance to the 
Church as paramount to his allegiance and duty to the United 
States. 

The dissenting committeemen then presented their views 
upon the question as to whether Reed Smoot, by virtue of 
his official relation to the Church, was responsible in any de- 
gree for the continuance of polygamous cohabitation by cer- 
tain of its members since the Manifesto of 1890. There was 
no testimony to show that he had ever done more than silently 
acquiesce in this ofifense against the law. The peculiar circum- 
stances attending the commission of that offense were then 
considered. So far as the evidence disclosed, there had been 
but a few plural marriages since the issuance of the Manifesto 
— perhaps not more than the bigamous marriages during the 
same period among as many non-"Mormons." The number 
of polygamous families in Utah had decreased from twenty- 
four hundred in 1890, to about five hundred in 1905, owing to 
death and other causes, and it would be only a few years until 
all would have passed away. "This feature of the situation," 
said the Foraker document, "has had a controlling influence 
upon public sentiment in the State of Utah." "Congress, having 
by the statutes of 1882 and 1887 specifically legitimized the 
children of these polygamous marriages, it was inconsistent, 
if not unwise and impossible, in the opinion of even the non- 
Mormons, to prohibit the father of such children from living 
with, supporting, educating, and caring for them ; but if the 
father was thus to live with, support, educate, and care for 
the children, it seemed harsh and unreasonable to exclude 
from this relationship the mothers of the children." When 
Congress passed the. Enabling Act (July, 1894) the people of 
Utah were required to incorporate in their State Constitution 
a proviso prohibiting polygamous marriages, but not polyga- 
mous cohabitation. "There was a common understanding 
both in Congress and in Utah that there were not only to be 
no more plural marriages, but that prosecutions for polyga- 
mous cohabitation had become so difficult that there was a 
practical suspension of them, and that time was the only cer- 
tain solution of the perplexing problem." 

In support of this view the statements of prominent "Gen- 



WAR AND POLITICS. 



535 



tiles" were cited, namely. Judge William McCarty, of the Su- 
preme Court of Utah ; Mr. E. B. Critchlow, former United 
States Commissioner; and Judge O. W. Powers, all of whom 
had testified during the investigation. Tlieir testimony 
l)roved that the "Gentiles" had acquiesced in the non-prosecu- 
tion of such cases, favoring a tolerant policy in relation to 
them. A speech by Senator Dubois, of Idaho, reported in the 
Congressional Record of February 5, 1903, was likewise drawn 
upon for evidence of "Gentile" toleration in this class of 
cases. 

Such testimony caused the five committeemen to believe 
that the conditions existing in Utah since Reed Smoot became 
an Apostle had been such that non-"Mormons" and "Mor- 
mons" alike acquiesced in polygamous cohabitation on the 




STATE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, OGDEN. 



l)art of those who married before the Manifesto of 1890. as an 
evil that could best be gotten rid of by siniply tolerating it 
until in the natural course of events it had passed out of exist- 
ence. In conclusion they said: "The undersigned are of the 
opinion that there is no just ground for expelling Senator 
Smoot or for finding him disqualified to hold the seat he oc- 
ctipies." 

Senator Smoot Retains his Seat. — The end of the pro- 
tracted controversy came on the 20th of February, 1907, when 
the Senate, by a vote of forty-one to twenty-eight, rejected the 
Burrows resolution, and adopted the views of Senator Foraker 
and his associates, deciding that Senator Smoot was entitled 



536 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

to his seat. Senator Depew was the only member of the 
Committee who withheld his sigfnature from bolh reports. 
Senator Dolliver, who had been placed upon the Committee 
after the close of the hearing, signed the Burrows report, but 
with the understanding that during the recess of Congress he 
would read the testimony, and if convinced that the minority 
were right,, would transfer his signature to their document. 
Tliis he did, dividing equally the tw^elve committeemen re- 
jxirting upon the case. The vote was preceded by a lively 
debate, in which both Utah Senators took part. Mr. Smoot 
was not injured by the fierce light thrown upon him during 
the inquisition, out of which he came with reputation en- 
hanced and influence increased tenfold. The cost of the de- 
fense — $3.5,000 — was borne by the Senator's private rpurse, 
barring the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, subsequently ap- 
propriated by Congress for his relief. 

The Church's Attitude.— In April, 1904, President Joseph 
F. Smith had issued an official statement, emphasizing the 





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PACKARD FREF: LIRRARY, SALT LAKE CITY. 



Manifesto of 1890. and declaring that since that time no plural 
marriages had been solemnized with the sanction, consent, or 
knowledge of the Church. All such marriages were prohibited, 
and if any officer or member should assume to solemnize or 
enter into such a marriage, he would be deemed a transgressor, 
liable to be dealt with and excommunicated from the Church. 
This declaration was ratified bv the General Conference. 



WAK AND I'OlJ'nCS. 



}>7 



A few weeks after the close of the Smoot investigation, 
President Smith and his Counselors issued an "Address to 
the World," re-affirming the loyalty of the Church to the Na- 
tion, and answering charges made against the "Mormon" peo- 
l)!e and their leaders. This address was read to the General 




THE AUGUSTA NATURAL BRIDGE. 

Conference in April, 1907, and adopted by unanimous vote. 
The parts most pertinent are here presented: 

"The Mormon people have bowed in respectful submission 
to the law enacted against plural marriage. While it is true 
that for many years they contested the constitutionality of 
the law of Congress, and during that time acted in harmony 
with their religious convictions in upholding by practice as 
well as by spoken and written word a principle committed to 
them from God. still, when every means of constitutional de- 
fense had been exhausted, the Church abandoned the contro- 
versy and announced its intention to be obedient to the laws 
of the land. Subsequently, when Statehood for Utah became a 
possibility, on the condition that her Constitution provide 
bv ordinance, irrevocable without the consent of the United 
States, that plural marriages should be forever prohibited, 
the "Mormon" people accepted the condition by voting for 
the adoption of the Constitution. From that time until now, the 
Church has been true to its pledge respecting the abandonment 
of plural marriage. ' 

"Tf it be urged that there have been instances of the vio- 
i;it'( 11 ■ f 1^ e ant'-p lygamy laws, and that some persons within 



538 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

the Church have sought to evade the rule adopted bv her 
prohibiting- plural marriages, the plain answer is that in everv 
state and nation there are individuals who violate law in spite 
of all the vigilance that can be exercised ; but it does not follow 
that the integrity of a community or a state is destroyed, be- 
cause of such individual transgressions. All we ask is that thj 
same common-sense judgment be exercised in relation to our 
community that is accorded to other communities." 

"Those who refer to 'Mormon polygamy' as a menace to 
the American home, or as a serious factor in American prob- 
lems, make themselves ridiculous. So far as plural marriage is 
concerned, the question is settled. The problem of polyg- 
amous living among our people is rapidly solving itself. It 
is a matter of record that in 1890, when the Manifesto was 
issued, there were 2.451 plural families; in nme years, this 
number had been reduced to 1,543. Four years later the num- 
ber was 897 ; and many of these have since passed away." 

"We declare that from principle and policy we favor 
the absolute separation of Church and State; no domination 
of the State by the Church ; no Church interference with the 
functions of the State ; no State interference with the functions 
of the Church, or with the free exercise of religion; the abso- 
lute freedom of the individual from the domination of ecclesi- 
astical authority in political affairs; the equality of all 
churches before the law. 

"The reaffirmation of this doctrine and policy, however, is 
predicated upon the express understanding that politics in the 
States where our people reside shall be conducted as in 
other parts of the Union ; that there shall be no interference 
bv the vState with the Church, nor with the free exercise of re- 
ligion. Should political parties make war upon the Church, or 
menace the civil, political, or religious rights of its members 
as such. — against a policy of that kind, by any political party 
or set of men whatsoever, we assert the inherent right of self- 
preservation for the Church, and her right and duty to call 
upon all her children, and upon all who love justice, and desire 
the perpetuation of religious lil)erty, to come to her aid, to 
stand with her until the danger shall have passed. And this 
openly, submitting the justice of our cause to the enlightened 
judgment of our fellow men, should such an issue unhappily 
arise. We desire to live in peace and confidence with opr 
fellow citizens of all political parties and of all religions." 

The Counselors to President Smith when this address was 
issued were John R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund. President 
Winder died in March, 1910, and in April was succeeded as 
First Counselor by President Lund, whose place as Second 



WAR AND POLITICS. 



539 



C'duusclor was g;iven to Elder John Henry Sniitli. Death 
claimed the latter in October, 1911, and since December of 
that year Charles W. Penrose has been Second Counselor in 
the First Presidency. 

Governor Wells and His Work. — Governor Wells closed 
his first term in January, 1901, and was given a second term, 
ending' in January, 1905. He was in office nine years, longer 
than any Governor of Utah before him, and was rightly re- 
garded as an intelligent, broad-minded, honest and capable 
executive. 

The Roosevelt Visit. — During the latter part of Governor 
^^'ells' second term the State was honored with a visit from 
President Theodore Roosevelt, the first head of the Nation to 
visit Utah after her admission into the Union. He arrived 
and departed on the 29th of May. 1903. Once before he had 
been in Utah, when, as Republican candidate for Vice Presi- 
dent, he made speeches in dififerent parts of the country, not 
omitting the West, which had formerly been his home. During 
his brief stay in the autumn of 1900, he addressed an audience 
at the Salt Lake Theatre, and 
enjoyed a gallop with the 
Rough Riders, who came from 
various counties to greet him. 
His second visit was several 
months after the tragic death of 
President McKinley had made 
him that oreat man's succes- 



Utah gave Roosevelt an 
ovation, one of the greatest 
civic and military parades ever 
seen in this region taking place 
in his honor. Two mammoth 
meetings were held, one in the 
open air at the Salt Lake City 
and County Building, and the 
other in the Tabernacle. At 
both places the President ad- 
dressed enthusiastic throngs. 
He was accompanied by Secre- 
tary Moody, of the United 
States Navy, and Secretary 




PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. 



*Memorial services in honor of I'resident McKinley were held in 
all the Utah churches, September 19 ,1901, the day of his funeral at 
Canton, Ohio. An immense congregation assembled at the Tabernacle 
in Salt Lake City, where fitting tributes were paid to tiie third mar- 
tyred Chief of the Nation. 



540 W JUTNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Wilson, of the Department of Agriculture. They also spoke 
to the people. At the outdoor meeting twelve thousand school 
cliildren, all waving American flags, cheered for the Chief 
Magistrate; while at the indoor gathering Governor Wells de- 
livered an address of welcome, and Miss Emma Ramsey (now 
Mrs. George Q. Morris) sang "The Flag without a Stain." 
Senator Kearns introduced President Roosevelt, a part of 
whose speech was a tribute to Utah and the Pioneers. The 
Secretary of the Navy, after eulogizing the "splendid volun- 
teers" that Utah had sent to the Philippines, said : "We want 
more of your young men to tread the decks of our war ves- 
sels." He promised that one of the great battleships soon to 
be built should bear the name "Utah ;"' an announcement 
greeted with loud applause. The visitors, who had breakfasted 
at the palatial home of Senator Kearns, held a reception at the 
Alta Club, and then departed for the East. 

Governor Cutler. — The second Governor of the State was 

John C. Cutler, an Englishman 
by birth, but for many years an 
American citizen and a resident 
of Utah. At the time of his 
nomination by the Repu]:)licans, 
in the autumn of 1904. he was 
a prominent and successful 
business man at Salt Lake City. 
During his four years of ser- 
vice Governor Cutler gave care- 
ful attention to the finances of 
the State, and left them in an 
excellent condition. The reve- 
nue was increased, expenses cut 
down, and all public institu- 
tions benefited, especially the 
Industrial School and the Men- 
tal Hospital. The State laws 
were compiled, and so amended 
that funds in possession of the 
State Board of Land Commis- 
GOVERNOR CUTLER. sioners might be used for irri- 

gation enterprises and the reclamation of arid lands. 

University and Agricultural College. — Soon after Gov- 
ernor Cutler's induction into office he was confronted by an 
educational problem, involving the University of Utah and the 
State Agricultural College, the former at Salt Lake City, the 
latter at Logan. Both schools had done excellent work, and 
were noted for efficiency and progressiveness, but there was 
an unnecessary and expensive duplication of studies in the 
institutions. The Governor, in pursuance of his retrenchment 




WAR AND POTJTICS. 



541 



policy, called the attention of the Legislature to this fact, and 
the result was the enactment in 1907 of laws restricting and 
prescribing the work of the two schools and designating the 
field that each must occupy. 




I All ACRR'ULTL^RAL COLLEC.K. 



From the autumn of 1900 the University had occupied a 
site provided for it by Act of Congress^namely, a portion of 
the Fort Douglas Military Reservation. This gift was be- 
stowed during the winter of 1893-1894, with the proviso that 
the chief building should be erected there within five years 
after the passage of the Act. In February, 1899, the Legislature 
provided for the removal of the University from Union Square 
to the new and commanding site on the foothills east of the 
Utah capital.* 




.^''^., 



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iiiiiirfPii'r 

I 



lliiil 

I I I e I 




NEW ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. 



*The first grant of land made by Congress to the University was 
in February, 1855. It consisted of two townships, equal to 46.080 
acres, to be selected anywhere within the Territory Ihe second grant 
— 110,000 acres, to be selected anywhere within the State — was included 
in the Enabling Act, July, 1894. A third similar grant was made 
through a bill introduced into Congress by Senator George Sutherland. 



542 WHITNEY'S POPULAR PIISTORY OF UTAH. 



, In October, 1905, Governor Cutler took part in the cere- 
monies attending the opening of the Free Public Library at 
Salt Lake City. This handsome Grecian structure, near neigh- 
bor to the Alta Club, and not far from the historic Eagle Gate, 
was a gift from Mr. John Q. Packard, a mining millionaire. 
Some of the books upon the shelves of the Free Library were 
once in the Masonic Library, which followed the Territorial 
Library, founded in 1850-1852. The remnants of the latter 
collection long ago became part of the library of the Uni- 
versity of Utah. Ogden, Provo and many other Utah towns 
now have free public libraries, most of them creations of the 
Carnegie Fund. 

During Governor Cutler's administration Juvenile Courts 
were established, pursuant to a law enacted in 1905, making 
provision for such tribunals in certain cities of the State. In 
1907 the Legislature provided for a Juvenile Court in each of 
the seven judicial districts. The judges and probation officers 
are appointed by a State Juvenile Court Commission, consist- 
ing of the Governor, Attorney General, and Superintendent 
of Public Instruction. In May, 1908, the Utah Peace Society 
was organized, in harmony with the world movement for uni- 
versal peace. 

Governor Spry. — William 
Spry, the third Governor of the 
State, came to Utah from Eng- 
land in 1875, when he was but 
eleven years of age. His ex- 
periences from childhood were 
of a varied character, ranging 
from stable boy and railroad 
section hand to hide and wool 
merchant, farmer and stock 
raiser. Like his two predeces- 
sors, he is a member of the 
"Mormon" Church, and at one 
time presided over the South- 
ern States Mission. He rep- 
resented Tooele County in the 
State Legislature, and subse- 
quently was State Chairman 
of the Republican party. In 
1906 he became United States 
Marshal, under an appointment 
from President Roosevelt. 
GOVERNOR SPRY. Elected Governor in the au- 

tumn of 1908, he entered upon the duties of that office in the 
following lanuarv. He was re-elected in 1912. 




WAR AND rOTJTICS. 



543 



President Taft in Utah. — During the fore part of Governor 
Spry's lirst term. President William Howard Taft visited Utah. 
He came here from Colorado, reaching Provo on the afternoon 
of Friday, September 4, 1909, 
accompanied by Secretary of 
the Interior Ballinger, Colonel 
Archibald W. Butt, two Sec- 
ret Service guards, and other 
Government officers. Alight- 
ing from their train at "The 
Garden City," the party, chap- 
eroned by Senators Smoot and 
Sutherland, Congressman 
Howell, Governor Spry, Mayor 
Bransford of Salt Lake City, 
and the local municipal officers, 
proceeded in automobiles to the 
Provo Tabernacle,! cheered on 
their way by the populace, in- 
cluding students and faculties 
of the Brigham Young Univer- 
sity, the Proctor Academy, and 
the public schools. The B. Y. 
U. students signalized their ap- 
preciation of the presidential 
visit by painting in mammoth PRESiDtXi iaff. 

white letters "T A F T", near their colossal "Y" on the moun- 
tj;in side. At the Tabernacle the President addressed three 
thousand people, and took occasion to congratulate Utah upon 
the excellent record made by Senators Smoot and Sutherland.* 
He then left for Salt Lake City. 

Saturday's program included breakfast and a speech by 
President Taft at the Commercial Club; also a trip to Saltair, 
where a reception was held on the ball room floor of the pa- 
vilion. Then came an organ recital at the Salt Lake Taber- 
nacle, a drive to the Country Club, a speech at Liberty Park, 
a reception at the University Club, and an informal dinner al 
the Alta Club. At Saltair Senator Smoot, leading forward a 
venerable lady, introduced her to President Taft as "Aunt 
Emmeline" (Mrs. Emmeline B. \\'ells). The President ex- 
pressed his gratification at the meeting, and Mrs. Wells re- 
sponded: "I have been introduced to every President since 
and including President Grant, and have presented petitions 




*Senator Sutherland, .on Septeml)cr 1st, 1916, was elected Presi- 
dent of the American Bar Association: the first Western man to re- 
ceive that high distinction. 



544 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

from women to most of them." At the Tabernacle President 
Taft and President Smith became mutually acquainted, and 
at Liberty Park Senator Sutherland, in behalf of the Com- 
mercial Club, presented the Chief Ma.^istrate with a fine oil 
painting- of the Augusta Bridge, in San Tuan County, the work 
of Mr. H. L. A. Culmer. 



f^ 




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CENTER STREET, PROVO. 



"A Bit Like a Sermon." — Sunday morning President 
Taft addressed an immense congregation at the Tabernacle. 
Taking for his text the proverb : "A soft answer turneth away 
wrath, but grievous words stir up anger," he delivered what 
he said might sound "a bit like a sermon." It was highly 
entertaining, and filled with good advice to all classes. The 
following paragraph will suffice to show the spirit of the ut- 
terance, which was in the President's happiest vein: 

"The truth is, my dear friends, this matter of hatred and 
resentment, which accompanies the attributing of bad motives 
to those who dififer with you, is a sort of waste of nervous 
strength, of time, of worry, without accomplishing one single 
good thing. (Applause.) I don't know how it has been with 
you, but it has happened, time and time again with me, that 
some man has done something that I didn't like, which I 
thought had a personal bearing, and that I have said in my 
heart. Times will change and I will get even with that gentle- 



WAR AND POLITICS. 545 

man. (Laug-hter.) Oh. I don't profess to be free from those 
feelings at all. But it has frequently happened, I may say 
generally, that the time did come when I could get even with 
that man. and when that time came it seemed to me that 1 
would demean myself, and that it would show me no man at 
all, if I took advantage. (Applause and cheers.) * * * 
So, my friends, what I am urging is less acrimony in public 
discussion, more charity in respect to each other as to what 
moves each man to do what he does do, and not to charge 
dishonesty and corruption until you have a real reason for 
doing so.' (Applause.) I am the last man to pardon or miti- 
gate'wrongs against the public, or against the individual. (Ap- 
plause.) I believe, and I regret to say, that throughout this 
C( uiitry the administration of the criminal law and the prose- 
cution of crime is a disgrace to our civilization (extended ap- 
plause) ; but it is one thing to prosecute a criminal when you 
have the evidence, and it is another thing to ascribe motives 
to the act of a man wiien you have not any evidence, and are 
just living in your imagination in respect to what you say." 
(Applause.) 

The Living Flag. — After the dismissal President Taft and 
his escort re-entered their cars and sped to the junction of 
South Temple and A. Streets, there to review "The Living 
Flag," a unique and inspiring spectacle consisting of hundreds 
of school children, dressed in the national colors and arranged 
in such a way as to present a perfect representation of the 
Stars and Stripes. While the President and those about him 
stood with uncovered heads in front of the beautiful emblem, 
which occupied a mammoth stand on the incline of A Street, 
the children, led by Professor Wetzell, sang "The Star Span- 
gled Banner" and other patriotic songs. After a short address 
to the Young Men's Christian Association, the President at- 
tended services at the Unitarian Church. At ntK)n his train 
pulled out for the Northwest. As previously at Helper, 
Springville, American Fork, Lehi. and Midvale, brief halts 
were made at Ogden, Brigham, and Cache Junction. At each 
of these places old and young came out to greet the distin- 
guished guest and receive his words of wise counsel. 

The Battleship "Utah." — In Decemlier of that year Gov- 
ernor Sprv represented the State at the launching and christen- 
ing of the United States battleship "Utah ;" the event taking 
place at the navy yards of the New York Ship-building Com- 
pany, Camden, New Jersey. Thus was fulfilled the promise of 
Secretary Moody, given in May, 1V03. The Governor's datigh- 
ter. Miss Mary Alice Spry, acted as sponsor for the great war 
vessel in the ceremony committing her to the waves. 

84 



546 \\'TTTTNr^Y'S POPULAR IITSTORV OF UTAH. 




THE I'TAII, V. S. N. 



The Spry Policy. — Governor Spry has taken a deep inter- 
est in educational matters, and heartily favors the extension of 
State aid to high schools. As chairman of the Board of Cor- 
rections, he has exerted his efforts toward placing^ the State 
Prison on a self-supporting basis, by utilizing convict labor in 
agricultural and manufacturing activities. The Governor has 
great faith in Utah's future. Impressed by the fact that many 
of her young men and women were moving into surrounding 
States, he has urged the stay-at-home doctrine in his public 
utterances. From the day of his inauguration he has pul)lic!y 
urged the burial of differences and animosities that have re- 
tarded the growth of the State and held back the development 
of its resources. 

A Pending Election. — As this volume goes to press (Octo- 
l^er, 1916), Governor Spry's administration is drawing to 
a close. Utah is on the eve of an election, the issue of which 
will determine who is to be inaugurated in January, 1917, as 
the fourth Governor of the State. 



XXXVI. 
RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



1916. 



An Evenly Developed State. — Utah is a land of wonderful 
resources, and her resources have been evenly developed. Gov- 
ernor Wells, in his inaugural address, made mention of this 
fact, and further eulogized the material features of his native 
State. Said he: "She has the greatest diversity of industry, 
and offers the greatest variety 
of occupation, of any state in 
the Union. The fame of Utah 
has gone fortii to the world, 
not aione as a mining state, 
nor as an agricultural state, 
nor as a grazing state, nor as a 
manufacturing state, but she is 
famous in each and all of these 
\arious pursuits, and is known 
not more widely for her gold 
and silver, than for her pota- 
toes and woolen goods." 

Independent and Self-sup- 
porting. — Another authority — 
judge Edward F. Colburn — • 
publishes the following opin- 
ion: "Pro])abIy no other state 
in the Union has within its 
borders such a variety of re- 
S(mrces. No other State could 
l)c so nearly independent and 
self-supporting. Tf intercourse 
with the outside world were 
cut ofif, there are few of the 

necessities or luxuries that could not be produced in abundance 
within the boundaries of Utah. It is an empire within itself." 

Agriculture. — Adam's occupation — the tilling of the soil — 
will always be the most important industry in the State of 
Utah. Mining may produce more wealth, but wealth alone — • 
material wealth — does not determine the question of import- 
ance. The beginnings of agriculture in this region were at the 
Pioneer camps on City Creek. There was no monopoly of land 




Jl'DGE E. F. COLBURN. 



548 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

or water in that early colony, nor in any of the colonies that 
sprang- from it. Small holding-s were the rule. It was a ma.xim 
in the community that a man should own no more ground than 
he could cultivate. Each settler was given a town lot and a 
small field on the outskirts. He was expected to take g-ood 
care of them, and be industrious and provident. The real 
estate was distributed by lot, each holder paying- a nominal 
fee to meet the expenses of surveying- and recording. In re- 
turn a temporary right of occupancy was given, contingent up- 
on the grant of the General Government, when the Federal 
land laws should be extended over the newly-acquired region. 
A town lot contained an acre and a quarter, and a field, five, ten 
or twenty acres. According to the State Commissioner of Sta- 
tistics, the average farm in Utah at the present time is one 
hundred and fifty acres.* 

Irrigation. — The soil in Salt Lake Valley and the sur- 
rounding region was found to be so dry and hard as to require 
flooding before it could be succesfully plowed, and the rainfall 
was so light and the dry seasons so prolonged that the settlers, 
in order to raise crops, were compelled to resort to irrigation 
as a regular practice. This involved much labor, but abundant 
returns repaid the toiler. Far greater crops are produced by 
irrigation than would be possible without it, even where rain 
is plentiful. At first the mountain streams, turned out of their 
original channels into ditches dug for the purpose, were used 
for moistening and making producti\e the barren ground. 
Afterwards canals were constructed and the rivers utilized in 
like manner upon a larger scale. The artesian well, unknown 
to the Pioneers, is a recognized institution with their descend- 
ants. Reservoirs to impound water have been built to the 
number of five hundred, besides six thousand miles of main 
canals and two thousand miles of laterals. 

Dry Farming. — At one time irrigation was thought to be 
indispensal)le in Utah — that nothing could be raised without 
it ; but in recent years it has been found possible in some places 
to mature good crops without irrigation. This discovery was 
made about 1860, but the fact was not generally accepted until 
many years later, when dry farming was successfully prac- 
ticed in central and southern Utah. With a view of awaken- 
ing the public mind to the possil>ilities in arid farming, the 

*The greatest numl^er of farms are in Cache, Utah, Salt Lake, 
Sanpete, Weber, Davis, Box Elder and Tooele counties. Next come 
Garfield, Emery, Wasatch, Washington, Millard, Beaver, Morgan, 
Juab, Iron, Sevier, Kane and Rich counties. The stock-growing dis- 
tricts are in the counties of Beaver, Box Elder, Emery, Garfield, 
Grand, Iron, Juab, Millard, Morgan, Rich, Sa i Juan, Sanpete, Tooele, 
Utah, Washington and Wayne. 



RI^SOUKCI-'.S AND DEVELOPMENT. 549 

Lci^islature of 1903 located six experimental dry farms, one in 
each of the following named counties: Iron, Juab, San Juan, 
Sevier, Tooele and Washington. The sum of $12,500 was ap- 
propriated to meet the cost of the experiment during two 
years. The Legislature of 1905 appropriated $15,500 for the 
purpose of continuing the investigations. These farms are 
conducted under the direction of the Experiment Station con- 
nected with the Agricultural College.* 

The National Irrigation Law, — An Act of Congress ap- 
proved June 2'), 1*)02, jM-ovided that the proceeds from the sale 
of public lands in certain States and Territories might be used 
for the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation 
of arid lands ; the purpose being to impound the waste waters 
for the benefit of the farming population. The Secretary of 
the Interior was authorized to make examinations and sur- 
veys, and to locate and construct works for the storage, diver- 
sion and development of waters. Throughout Utah there 
are many natural depressions, easily convertible into reservoirs 
wherein to preserve the surplus flow of the streams; the wet 
seasons thus being made to minister to the dry. 

Utah as Gamaliel. — It was soon after the enactment of 
the National Irrigation Law that President Roosevelt visited 
Utah. His speech at the Salt Lake Tabernacle contained a 
passage well worthy of preservation in this History : "Not 
in recent years," said he, "has any more important law been 
put upon the statute books of the Federal Government than 
the law, a year ago, providing for the first time that the Na- 
tional Government should interest itself in aiding and building 
up a system of irrigated agriculture in the Rocky Mountain 
and Plain States. And here the Go\ernment. to a degree, had 
to sit at the feet of Gamaliel in the person of Utah ; for what 
you have done and learned was of incalculable benefit to those 
who engaged in framing and getting through the National Ir- 
rigation Law. For irrigation was first practiced on a large 
scale in this State. The necessity of the Pioneers here led to 
the devek^pment of irrigation to a degree absolutely unknown 
before upon this continent, and in no respect was the wisdom 
of the early Pioneers made more evident than in the sedulous 
care they took to pro\ide for small farms carefully tilled by 



*Tlie success so far achieved by these exi)erinicnts is largely due 
to Doctor John A. Widtsoe, former director of the Experiment Sta- 
tion, later President of tlie Agricultural College, and now President of 
the University of Utah. Professor L. A. Merrill, P. A. Yoder, and 
W. M. Jardine also deserve honorable mention in this connection. Dr. 
Widtsoe has written several books, dealing in a thorougli and scien- 
tilic manner with these interesting themes. 



550 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

those who lived on and benefited from them. And hence it 
comes about that the average amount of land required to sup- 
port the family in Utah is smaller than in any other part of 
the United States." 

"Now the Federal Government must co-operate with Utah 
and Utah's people for the further extension of the irrigated 
area. Some of the most important provisions of the Federal 
Act, such as the control of irrigation works by the communi- 
ties which they serve, such as making the water appurtenant to 
the land, and not a source of speculation apart from the land 
— all that was based upon the experience of Utah." "Now 
one of the tasks that the Government must do here in Utah is 
to build reservoirs for the storage of the flood water." "Be- 
sides the storage of water, there must be protection of the 
water sheds, and that is why I ask you to help the United 
States Government to protect the water sheds by protecting 
the forests upon them." 

The Strawberry Valley Project. — The first fruits of the 
Natidual Irrigation Law in Utah was the construction, by the 




STRAWBERRY VALLEY RESERVOIR. 



Government, of the Strawberry Valley Reservoir and Canal. 
This great project, completed during May, 1916, tunnels the 
Wasatch Mountains seventy-five miles south of Salt Lake 
City, and brings upon many thousands of arid acres in Utah 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOl'MENT. 



Valley the waters inii)oundcd for this purpose eastward of tliat 
rocky range. 

Irrigation Congresses. — President Roosevelt's timely re- 
marks upon the reclamation of arid lands found a fitting sup- 
plement in the National Irrigation Congress, the eleventh ses- 
sion of which convened at Ogden in the autumn of that year. 
This was not the first Irrigation Congress in Utah, one having 
met at Salt Lake City in September, 1891, when sixteen States 
and Territories were represented. The meetings, extending 
through three days, were held in the Exposition Building, on 
the Tenth Ward Square. The Ogden gathering was "a con- 
vention of specific significance" to the States and Territ(M-ies 
whose arid lands were to be reclaimed by the Federal Govern- 
ment under the provisions of the National Irrigation Act — 
namely, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mon- 
tana, North Dakota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ore- 
gon, South Dakota, Utah, 
Washington and Wyoming. 
Beginning on the 15th of Sep- 
tember, the Congress contin- 
ued four days. United States 
Senator W, A. Clark, of Mon- 
tana, presided over the deliber- 
ations. A prize Irrigation 
Ode, written by Mrs. V^irginia 
D. McClurg, of Colorado 
Springs, and set to music by 
John J. McClellan, organist of 
the Salt Lake Tabernacle, was 
sung at the opening of the 
session by the Ogden Taber- 
nacle Ch(Mr, led by Joseph Bal- 
lantyne. Among the speakers 
were Governor Wells. Senator 
Clark, Secretary Wilson. Chief 
Engineer Newell, Chief For- 
ester Pinchot, John Henry 
Smith and William E. Sniythe, 
"The Father of the Irrigation 
Congress." Letters were read 
from President Roosevelt and other American statesmen, and 
among the visitors were representatives of the I'^rcnch and 
Mexican governments. 

Soils and Products. — The soils in this region are said to 
be the deepest and richest in the United States, extending in 
many instances to a depth of forty feet. Utah produces more 




SENATOR W. .\. CLARK. 



552 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



sugar beets and barley to the acre than any other State.; she 
is tied with two other States for first place in the yield of 
potatoes to the acre, and is second among the States in the yield 
of wheat per acre.* The wheat yield on dry land is from twelve 
to thirty-five bushels an acre, and on irrigated farms sixty 
bushels an acre. The quality of the grain is excellent. Oats 
yield from fifty to eighty-five bushels an acre. Utah barley 
weighs over fifty pounds to the bushel, and is considered 
superior to any other produced in the United States. Utah 
potatoes are famous both at home and abroad. About one 
hundred thousand acres of land are devoted to the raising 
of sugar beets. Whole families cultivate them and find prof- 
itable employment in so doing. The average production per 
acre is over twelve tons — in Germany it is ten to eleven tons, 
and in Nebraska eight tons. As high as thirty-three tons per 
acre have been produced in Utah. Alfalfa, a forage plant, 
flourishes on this soil, three or four crops a year being raised 

in the lower valleys, where 
water is plentiful ; while upon 
rough, dry, and stony ground, 
at least one crop can be raised 
without irrigation. 

Horticulture. — The Utah 
fruits are superior in sweet- 
ness, firmness, beauty and fine 
flavor. Apples, pears, peaches, 
ajjricots, cherries, nectarines, 
plums, grapes, strawberries, 
raspberries, currants, and all 
the small fruits thrive. At the 
junction of the Rio Virgen and 
Santa Clara rivers, figs, pome- 
granates, and other tropical 
fruits abound. At the Fifteenth 
National Irrigation Congress, 
lield at Sacramento, California, 
in September, 1907, Utah won 
among other prizes the Hearst 
Sweepstakes Trophy, for the 
best collective State exhibit of 
irrigated land products. f 
Utah's agricultural production for 1915 is shown in the 




PROFESSOR TOHN J. M CLELLAN. 



*"Facts about Utah," by H. T. Haines, Commissioner of Statis- 
tics, New West Magazine, Salt Lake City. June, 1916. 

tThe principal fruit-growing districts are in Box Elder, Weber, 
Utah, Salt Lake, Grand and Washington counties. The Green River 
country is also looming u]) as a great fruit-growing region. 



RESUURCKS AND DI'A^ia.OPMF.NT. 553 
follovvino- tci1)lc, furnished by the Commissioner of Statistics: 

Amount Value 

„., , , 1 1 8,225,000 $ 6.662,250 

\\ heat bushels ^^^^^ ^^^ 1,886,000 

Oats, bushels ',377,000 6.^.^,420 

Barlej;, bushels ^^^'^^^^ ^ 26,000 

Rye, bushels ^^y 238.510 

Corn bushels • 2,600.000 1 ,690,000 

Potatoes, bushels -^g^ ^^^ 8.398,000 

Hay, tons . . . . • ■ ^^^'^-^^^^ 3.419,400 

Sugar beets tons ^^ 45^,000 

Alfalfa Seed, tons '^^^ 54 qqq 

Sweet Clover, tons V „„ c, 700 

Red Clover, tons 

Orchard Fruit— ^^^^ 5(^140.) 

Apples, bushels ^ ^23.000 

Peaches, bushels • 32 ooo 

Pears, bushels • , 

Orchard Fruit (including cherries, ai)ncots, plums and ^^^^^^ 

Prvnies) 700;000 

Small Fruit 200,000 

Nursery Products 100 000 

Flowers and Plants ^ 500000 

Vegetables 3',OOo',OaO 

Dairy TYoducts j 000.000 

Miscellaneous 2 600.000 

Eggs and I oultry 100.000 

Honey . lO.OOo'.OOO 

Live Stock i6 000,000 3,520,000 

Wool, pounds 

& — r— r— — ' 




TTAII KA.Ml'.oriLLKTl SlIKKl'. 



Stock Raising. — Ml the farmers have horses and cattle, 
and manv of them, shec]) and swine. The yearly wool chp 
amounts 'to many millions of pounds, and is contmually m- 



554 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



creasing-. Much of this is worked up at home. Poultry raising 
and egg production flourish in connection with farming. The 
number and value of live stock in Utah on January 1st, 1916, 
were as here indicated : 

Horses 146,000 $12,od6,0()0 

Mules 2,000 156,000 

Milch Cows 96,000 5,952,000 

Other Cattle 408,000 14,606,400 

Sheep 2,090,000 11,286,000 

Swine 1 12,000 873,600 

An Agricultural Forecast. — President John A Widtsoe 
forecasts as follows the three directions in which Utah agri- 
culture promises to develop : First, the live stock industry, in 

which dairying will be fore- 
most ; second, horticulture, in 
which the fruit interests will 
predominate ; and thirdly, arid 
farming, or the production of 
grains and other crops on our 
deserts. Bee-keeping, floricul- 
ture, market gardening, etc., 
will be secondary in import- 
ance to the three branches 
mentioned. The sugar beet 
Inisiness will be controlled al- 
most entirely by the number of 
factories in operation. 1'he 
hog and l)eef industry will be 
incidents of the dairy business. 
Sheep and cattle on the range 
will likely decrease as land be- 
comes better utilized for gen- 
eral farm purposes, and shee]) 
and cattle on the farms will 
probably increase in almost the 
same ratio. The greatness of 
the sugar beet business is that 
its product is shipped out as a manufactured article. The 
strength of the dairy busines lies in the same fact — butter and 
cheese are both manufactured products. The canneries and 
fruit-drying- establishments will be to horticulture what the 
creamery and cheese factory is to dairying. 

The Manufacturing Interests. — While Utah is mainly an 
agricultural and a mining State, she is also known for some 
very important manufacturing industries that flourish within 
her borders. That the commonwealth might become self-sus- 




DR. JOHN A. WIDTSOE. 



RESOURCES AND DEVEEOPMENT. 555 

tainiiii^. was the dream of its founders. As early as 1852 a 
strong effort was put forth to awaken the people to a realiza- 
tion of the necessity existing for the establishment of home in- 
dustries. The community was isolated, a thousand miles from 
outside civilization, with no better means of communication 
than the ox or mule wagon. How long the isolation would 
continue was uncertain, and meanwhile the problem confront- 
ing the settlers was twofold. They must either produce what 
they consumed, or pay local merchants, in many instances, 
four or five times the worth of imported goods. This condi- 
tion made home production imperative. In 1856 the Deseret 
Agricultural and Manufacturing Society was organized, for 
the special purpose of encouraging and promoting home man- 
ufactures and kindred interests. The Society held regular 
autumnal exhibitions for the display of, and awarding of prizes 
to, the best products of farm, factory, and industrialism in 
general. That year saw the first Territorial Fair, the fore- 
runner of our present State Eairs. 

The Textile Industry. — The raising of flax. silk, cotton 
and wool, and the manufacture of cloth and various articles 
from these products, was advocated from the beginning. In 
some places these industries were established, though neces- 
sarily on a limited scale. The people were poor, and in most 
cases were obliged to co-operate. Spinning wheels, hand 
looms, and carding machines, home-made and imported, ap- 
peared at a very early date. The flax industry gradually 
waned, and about the year 1880 disappeared ; but sericulture 
continued its experiments and manufactures, as did enter- 
prises having cotton and wool as their basis. The decline of 
the textile industry was largely owing to the advent of the 
railroad, bringing manufactures from abroad. The local fac- 
tories were unable to compete with centers having cheaper 
raw materials, cheaper labor, and l)ctter machinery. 

Sericulture. — Utah is a natural home for sericulture. Dur- 
ing the fore part of the '"fifties" silk worms and mulberry 
trees were imported from France, and Brigham Young and 
other prominent citizens led out in the establishment of co- 
cooneries and the raising of silk. For many years, at the Ter- 
ritorial and State Fairs, there have been exhibited fine speci- 
mens, not only of raw silk, but of silk fabric made into dresses, 
shawls, aprons, handkerchiefs, and other articles. The wife of 
President Haves, while at Salt Eake City, in' September. 1880, 
was presented by the Ladies' Relief Society WMth an elegant 
fischu of native silk, the work of Mrs. Ursenbach, an adept in 
sericulture. The article was valued at seventy-five dollars. 
Mrs. Haves was delighted with the gift, and assured the givers 
that she would wear it on state occasions. Later, Miss Susan 



556 WHITNEY'S POPULAR lllSroKV ()I< UTAH. 



B. Anthony, the noted suffragette, was presented with a hand- 
some silk gown, by the ladies of the Utah Silk Association. 
Allusion has previously been made to the attractive silk ex- 
hibit sent from the Territory to the World's Fair, in 1893. 

Cotton and Wool. — Cotton was raised in Northern Utah 
as early as 1S51. Init the southern ])art of the State is a far 
more promising field for such an industry. In 1855 cotton 
seed, brought from the Southern States, was planted in the 
Santa Clara Valley, and from the product of that planting 
thirty yards of cloth were made — the first cotton fabric manu- 
factured in Utah. The cotton seed — one quart — was sent by 

Nancy Pace Anderson, a 
Southern lady residing at Par- 
owan, to Jacob Hamblin, then 
a missionary among the In- 
dians on the Santa Clara. The 
cloth was made bv Caroline 
Beck Knight. Maria Wood- 
bury Haskell, and Lyman 
Curtis. The ginning and 
spinning were done by hand, 
and the weaving on a treadle 
loom. In 1858 Joseph Home, 
heading a colony from Salt 
Lake City, established a cotton 
farm on the Rio VHrgen. The 
impetus given to cotton cul- 
ture in Utah by the Civil War, 
which well-nigh ruined the in- 
dustry in the Southern States, 
has been noted in a former 
chapter. In 1852 cotton mills 
began to appear at Parowan. 
Springville and other places. 
The most important one was 
ton County, in 1855; it was also 
a woolen mill. The Southern Utah Co-operative Mercantile 
Association dealt largely in cotton. Part of the raw product 
went to California, while some of it was freighted across the 
]:)lains and forwarded to New York, where it sold at $1.40 to 
$1.90 a pound. After the close of the great conflict, the cot- 
ton industry revived in the Southern States and declined in 
Utah. 

The wool industry is almost as old as the commonwealth 
itself. A thousand sheep came with the immigration of 1848, 
and the first public carding machine was set up in Salt Lake 
Valley ])y Amasa Russell. To promote this industry the 




joSia'II IIOR.XE. 

l;uilt at \\'ashinL't< n. \\ashin 



RESOURCES AND DEV^ELOPMENT. 



557 



Legislature of 1852 appropriated the sum of two thousand 
dollars. At Provo, in 1851, Shadrach Holdaway opened a 
small woolen mill, the machinery for which had been pur- 
chased in St. Louis. Brigham Young had a carding machine 
on Parley's CanycMi Creek, and TTeber C. Kimball one on City 
Creek. Others were put U]) in various places. Many fam- 
ilies had ])ri\atc looms, and tuok pride in making their own 




KXK^.HT \VO()l.l-..\ Mil IS. 



clothing. IVIen. women, and children dressed in home-made 
"sheep's gray." In 1873 two woolen mills — the Wasatch and 
the Deseret — were in operation near Salt Lake City ; and at 
the same time Ogden, Brigham, Grantsville, Provo, Beaver, 
Washington, Springville. Kingston, and West Jordan each 
had one. They made yarn, jeans, linseys and satinets. The 
largest and most successful of these establishments — the 
Provo Woolen Mills — was founded in June. I860, by A. O. 
Smoot and associates. In 1870-1872 a factory building was 
erected, and seventy thousand dollars worth of machinery 
placed and started to running. Next year the first cloth was 
put upon the market. The Provo Manufacturing Company 
had a capital of half a million dollars. They carried on a pros- 
perous manufacturing business, and engaged extensively in 
the wool trade. Their mills shut down in October. 1006. but 
have since resumed operations under a new name, that of the 
Knight Woolen Mills, Jesse Knight, of Provo, being the main 
proprietor. 



558 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

Sugar Making. — Utah's most successful manufacturing 
industry at the present time — if we except the smelting, mill- 
ing and refining of ores — is the making of beet sugar. The 
humble and unsuccessful beginning of this business, in 1852, 
when John Taylor, who had become familiar with the beet 
sugar culture in France, brought from Liverpool to Salt Lake 
City the first sugar machinery, has already been mentioned. 
For many years the project slept. Great quantities of sugar 
cane were raised, and molasses and a crude quality of brown 



f 




ARTHUR STAYNER. 



^LIAS MORRIS. 



sugar resulted from the boiling of the cane juice. But the 
beet sugar idea was in abeyance. 

About 1886 Arthur Stayner, of Salt Lake City, began to 
agitate the subject of sugar making. He devoted a great deal 
of time to working up a sentiment in its favor. President 
Woodruff and the leading men of the Church became deeply 
interested, and a syndicate wa^ formed to push forward the 
enterprise. Lleber J. Grant, as the agent of Cannon, Grant & 
Company, was particularly active in this direction. In Aug- 
ust, 1889, the Utah Sugar Company was incorporated, with 
F.lias Morris as President, and Arthur Stayner as Secretary 
and General Manager. In 1891 a factory was built at Lehi, 
and gradually the industry extended, until now there are 
eleven large factories in Utah, and several in adjoining States 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



559 



owned by Utah people. The. 
Utah factories are at Lehi, 
Ogden, Logan, Lewiston, Gar- 
land. Brigham, Layton, West 
Jordan, Spanish Fork, Payson, 
and Elsinore. There are also 
cutting stations at Provo and 
Springville, from which the 
beet juice is conveyed by pipe 
lines to Lehi. The output of 
the factories operating in 1915 
was about two hundred mil- 
lion pounds of sugar. It is 
shipped north to Oregon, west 
to Nevada, and as far east as 
the Atlantic Coast. 

The Utah-Idaho Sugar 
Com])any is under the general 
management of I'homas R. 
Cutler, with Horace G. Whit- 
ney as Secretary and Treas- 
urer. The Amalgamated Suear 




IIEBKR T. GR.\i\T. 




lUSllOP C. W, NIl'.LEY. 



Company, of Ogden, is man- 
aged by Leroy R. Eccles ; and 
the Layton Sugar Company, of 
Layton, by James Ellison. An- 
other name very prominently 
connected with the sugar busi- 
ness, and with other large en- 
terprises, is that of Bishop 
Charles W. Nibley, of Salt 
Lake City. 

Salt Production. — Utah is 
a land of salt. There are 
mountains of it in Juab, San- 
pete and Sevier counties, and 
the Great Salt Lake holds 
within its briny waters an in- 
exhaustible supply. The rock 
salt in Central Utah is so clear 
that one can read through it, 
as through glass. The salt in 
the Lake is obtained by pump- 
ing the l)rine into elevated 
flumes, which carrv it inland 



560 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

to prepared evaporating- ponds, where it deposits its mineral 
elements and crystallizes under the heat of the sun. The 
crude salt is refined in mills constructed near the ponds, and 
the product is used for table and other domestic purposes, 
also for live stock, dairying, manufacturing, silver reduction, 
and the packing of meats and hides. 

Up to 1889 no attemi)t had been made to utilize on a large 
scale, or in any but a crude and imperfect manner, these 
natural saline treasures. That year the Inland Crystal Salt 
Company was incorporated by Nephi W. Clayton, Jere Lang- 
ford and others, who built the first salt refinery, and later sold 
their business to Kansas capitalists at a large profit. In bS93 




THOM.XS R. CUTLER. 



IIORACR G. WHITNEY. 



Mr. Clayton and associates organized the Inter-Mountain Salt 
Company, which, in 1898, consolidated with the first named 
enterprise, under the title of the Inland Crystal Salt Company. 
They have a salt farm of three thousand acres on the 
eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, and manufacture every 
year about forty thousand tons of salt, representing in cash 
$250,000. 

Canneries. — The canning business is rapidly assuming 
large proportions. There are many fruit and vegetable can- 
neries in Utah, most of them in Weber, Davis and Box Elder 
counties. The outside market for this product is in the sur- 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



561 



rounding States and as far east as Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and 
Missouri. 

Miscellanies. — In addition to the industries named, Salt 
Lake City, Ogden, Provo, Logan, and Spanish Fork all have 
shoe factories. Z. C. M. I. conducts a large shoe and overall 
factory, employing about two hundred men and women. Utah 
has brick-making plants, cement works, machine shops and 
foundries, saw mills, flouring mills, planing mills, stone quar- 
ries, lime kilns, potteries, tanneries, knitting factories, and 
creameries. Concerns for the manufacture oi steam boilers, 
iron fencing, lead pipe, picks, brooms, brushes, vehicles, mat- 
tresses, show cases, crackers, ice, confectionery, vinegar, plas- 
ter of paris, paper boxes, rubber stamps, picture frames, har- 
ness, upholstery, chemicals, gloves, coffins, mosaic tiles, and an 
endless variety of other articles, are running in various parts 
of the State. 

Growth of Mining. — From 1863 until 1865 mining in Utah 
was an infant in arms. From 1870 it was a youth, strong 
and vigorous, and ten years 
later it had developed into ma- 
ture manhood. Today it is a 
giant, and still growing. The 
metal output of the State in 
1915 aggregated in value $61,- 
081,633. For 1916 it bids fair 
to reach ninety millions. Utah 
ranks second among the 
States in the production of 
silver, third in lead, fourth in 
copper, and sixth in gold. Her 
known metal product for gold, 
silver, copper, lead and zinc 
alone, according to the U. S. 
Geological Survey, is valued 
at $691,301,832. The known 
dividends paid by the Utah 
metalliferous mining com- 
panies is $131,000,000. The 
estimated contents of Utah's 
coal fields is 196,000,000,000 short tons. 

And yet mining in Utah may be said to have only just 
begun. No county in the State is without minerals of some 
kind. Copper, silver, gold, and sulphur of the purest quality 
are found in Millard; Iron County has mountains of the metal 
for which it was named ; and the Summit coal mines have been 
worked for a generation. In Carbon County coal mining is 
the leading industry, and that section, with parts formerly 

35 




SAMUEL NEWHOUSE. 



562 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



embraced by the Uintah and Uncompahgre Indian reserva- 
tions, are rich in hydrocarbons. Some of these — such as gil- 
sonite (gum asphaltum) and elaterite (a sort of mineral rub- 
ber) — are peculiar to Utah. Ozocerite (mineral wax) is found 
in but one place outside the State. Asphaltum is taken from 
springs and lakes, also from limestone and sandstone. Min- 
eral oils ooze up from the earth along the shores of the Great 
Salt Lake and in other places. Underlying reservoirs of nat- 
ural gas have long been drawn upon for domestic uses. Salt- 
peter, alum, soda, bismuth, and other minerals in endless vari- 
ety are common. Marble, onyx, chalcedony, granite, shales, 
and all kinds of building stones abound. 

Centers of Activity. — The great centers of mining activity 
and productiveness are Bingham. Eureka, and Park City. 

Important developments are 
also going on in Beaver and 
Box Elder counties, and in 
other parts of the State. Bing- 
ham, situated in the Oquirrh 
Mountains, about twenty miles 
southwest of Salt Lake City, 
is the oldest mining camp in 
Utah. Silver, lead, and gold 
were mined there earlv in the 
seventies. Copper was also 
])roduced. but not so plenti- 
fully as in recent years, when 
modern methods of handling 
these ores have given to the 
old camp a new fame. Since 
July, 1896, when Samuel New- 
house acquired possession of 
the Highland Boy Mine, Bing- 
ham has undergone a complete 
transformation. Up to that 
time, only the ordinary pro- 
cesses of mining were em- 
ployed there, but now immense 
steam shovels, capable of moving seven tons of earth at one 
scoop, are leveling down the mountains. The characterizing 
feature of Utah mining today is not in the richness of the 
finds, but in the vast tonnage of copper ores handled. Bing- 
ham's prestige as a copper-producing camp is largely due to 
D. C. lackling, a leading mining engineer, whose ideas, prac- 
tically" applied, have made possible the successful handling 
of these low grade copper ores. 

Beaver Count v also has immense copper deposits. Near 




D. C. TACKLING. 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



563 



the Cactus group of mines stands Newhousc, a model mining 
town, built by the rich proprietor whose name it bears. The 
recent developments in that district and in Bingham Canyon 
have placed Utah near the top of the list of the great copper 
states of the Union. 

(Tintic, eighty-five miles southwest of the Utah capital, is 
a silver mining field, though lead, copper, and gold arc also 
found there. The first mines 
were located about the ' year 
1870. Eollowing the Sunbeam 
and the Eureka Hill, came the 
Rullion-Beck and the Centen- 
nial Eureka, both of which 
were great producers. The dis- 
trict has many other noted 
properties. The principal 

towns are Eureka and Robin- 
son. Knightsville is a temper- 
ance town, founded by Jesse 
Knight of Provo. Another large 
owner in Tintic is Mr. John 
Dern, of Salt Lake City. 

In the Wasatch Moun- 
tains, thirty miles east of Salt 
Lake Valley, stands Park City, 
the home of the Ontario Mine, 
which created the town and 
made it famous. The Silver 
King, the Judge, the Daly-West, 
and other rich properties have 
perpetuated its fame. The 
Oiitario is one of the deepest, and has been one of the 
most prolific mines in the world. It has more than sixty 
miles of underground workings, including a drain tunnel three 
miles long, through which rushes a huge torrent of water 
drained from a large area rich in minerals. Hundreds of 
men are employed in the depths of the Park City mines, pick- 
ing, blasting, and hauling the glistening galena (silver-lead 
ore) to the foot of great shafts up whicli the tram cars con- 
taining it are hoisted. The hoists are run by steam and elec- 
tricity, which also lights the shafts and tunnels. Among the 
leading mine owners of Park City are David Keith, Thomas 
Kearns, John J. Daly, Otto Hanke, W. Mont Ferry, the Bam- 
bergers, and the Judge Estate. 

Other Mining Camps, — In Alta, Big Cottonwood, 
American Fork, and Ophir mining revivals are in progress. 
This is especially noticeable in Ophir, one of the earliest of 




JOHN DERN. 



564 WHITNEY'S POrULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



local mining camps. Marysvale, Piute County, is gold-bearing 
ground. Frisco, in Beaver County, has the famous Horn 
Silver Mine, and at Silver Reef, Washington County, rich 
silver ores are found in petrified trees, the remains of an 
ancient forest ifnbedded in the sandstone; a unique geological 
feature, unparalleled, so far as known, in any other mining 
region. The Deep Creek country, in Western Utah, needs 

but a railroad to make of it a 
prosperous mining field. In 
that district is found the semi- 
precious mineral, tungsten, the 
price of which rose to a phe- 
nomenal height after the out- 
l)reak of the European war. 

Ore Reduction and Refine- 
ment. — The usual methods of 
treating ores, in order to sep- 
arate the metal from the rock, 
prior to further reduction and 
refinement, are concentrating 
and smelting. Concentration is 
a process whereby most of the 
mineral values in a number of 
tons of ore are condensed into 
a smaller unit. It is done by 
crushing the mineral-bearing 
rock with iron stamps, or in a 
huge crusher shaped like a cof- 
fee mill, and then passing it, 
DAVID KEITH. ^^'^^ Water, ovcr shaking- ta- 

bles, where the rock is washed 
away, leaving the heavier metallic particles. Ores are smelted 
in furnaces, where they are mixed with fluxes of iron, silica, 
and lime, which cause them to yield readily to the heat. The 
metal product is called matte, and in a more refined state, 
bullion. 

Smelters and Mills. — Conditions in Utah are very favor- 
al:ile to the smelting industry. Most of the smelters and mills 
are in Salt Lake Valley, which has become a great ore-reduc; 
ing center, treating not only the product of local mines, but 
also ores from other States. One of the largest smelting plants 
in existence, is that of the American Smelting and Refining 
Company, at Garfield, on the southern shore of the Great Salt 
Lake. Near by stand two concentrating mills, owned by the 
Utah Copper Company. These mills— the largest in the world 
- — handle thirty-five thousand tons of ore each day, and are 
being increased to a capacity of fifty thousand. The Inter- 




' RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



565 



national Smelter, in Tooele Valley, is a worthy rival of the 
great plant at Garfield. The United States Smelting, Refining 
and Mining Company has a lead-silver smelting plant at Mid- 
vale, and at Newhouse there is a mammoth modern concen- 
trator. 

Mercur and the Cyanide Process. — Up to June, 1912, Mer- 
cur, in Camp Floyd district, was the heaviest gold producer 
in Utah. Quicksilver (mercury) was also mined there; hence 
the name — Mercur. This town, though now dead, will be re- 
membered as the cradle of the cyanide process of gold extrac- 
tion. "By the usual amalgamation process," wrote Professor 
J. H. Paul, of the University of Utah, while Mercur was at 
the height of its prosperity, "from forty to sixty per cent of 




THE AMERICAN SMELTER, GARFIELD. 

the gold was left in the tailings or refuse ore. The ore was 
/"rushed and passed over copper plates covered with quick- 
silver, which collected the free gold as the pulverized ore was 
washed over the plates in water. This quicksilver amalgam 
was then heated in retorts and the mercury was distilled off 
and collected for further use. The gold left behind was made 
into bricks. The cyanide process * * * * extracts 
from seventv to ninet^'-five per cent of the gold. * * * \^ 
the great cyanide mill of ]\Jercur. which treats about eight 
hundred tons of ore and uses six hundred pounds of cyanide 
each day, this deadly stufT is simply shoveled into tanks of 
water and dissolved. The ore, a soft, yellowish rock, is ground 



566 WHITNEY'S I'Oi'ULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

fine and soaked for twenty-four hours in the cyanide solution, 
which dissolves the gold. The next thing is to get the gold 
from the solution, which is done by passing the liquid through 
a series of compartments filled with zinc shavings, or into" a 
tank containing zinc dust and stirred by a jet of air. The dis- 
solved gold now deserts the solution and clings to the zinc. 
The water is drawn ofif, more cyanide is shoveled into it, and 
it is again ready for use. Weak sulphuric acid is added to the 
zinc dust and shavings, and they are dissolved; the zinc solu- 
tion is drawn ofif, leaving the gold behind in the fine slime. 
This mud is then filter-pressed, dried, ground, mixed with re- 
agents, and melted. The gold sinks to the bottom and is 
finally run ofif into molds, forming real gold bricks worth from 
$20,000 to $30,000 apiece." 

Railroads. — Earlier chapters of this history have dealt 
with the pioneer railroads, general and local, and with the 
advent of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, in 1883. The 
company that built the D. and R. G. has owned and operated 
for many years a branch line from Thistle Valley Junction 
through Sanpete Valley, as far south as Marysvale. It has 
also acquired or constructed branch roads to Bingham, Tin- 
tic, Park City, Heber, and the coal fields in Emery and Car- 
bon counties. 

The Oregon Short Line. — The Oregon Short Line Rail- 
road Company was organized at Salt Lake City in February, 
18y7. Acquiring possession of the Utah Central, Utah North- 
ern, Utah Southern, Utah Southern Extension, and Salt Lake 
and Western lines, it extended its system northward and south- 
ward. With its western connection, the Oregon-Washington 
Railroad and Navigation Company, it now reaches from Salt 
Lake City to Seattle, penetrating by numerous branches the 
farming and mining districts of Northern Utah, Idaho, West- 
ern Wyoming, Montana, and Eastern Oregon. The comple- 
tion of the Yellowstone Park branch during 1008 greatly in- 
creased the tourist travel through the State. The Oregon 
Short Line is included in the Union Pacific system, of which 
E. E. Calvin is President. The General Passenger Agent of 
the Short Line is a Utah-born man, Mr. D. S. Spencer, of Salt 
Lake City. 

Across the Lake. — On the Southern Pacific, between Og- 
den and Lucin, Utah, a remarkable piece of railroad engineer- 
ing and construction was completed in 1903. It is known as 
the Great Salt Lake Cut-oflf, and is one hundred and three 
miles in length, about one-third of it built upon trestle work 
and fills-in over the waters of the Great Salt Lake. Formerly 
the track curved around the northern shore, and trains were 



RESOURCKS AND DEVJ'LLOiWlENT. 



567 



compelled to climb the long grades of Promontory Hill, one 
hundred and four feet to the mile, llelper engines were 
necessary, entailing an expense of fifteen hundred dollars a 
day. The Cut-off not only saves this heavy expense, Init 
shortens the distance between Salt Eake Cit)- and San Fran- 
cisco more than forty miles. The scheme for the improvement, 
which cost four million dollars, originated with President Col- 
lis P. Huntington, of the Southern Pacific Company, and the 




E. E. CALVIN. 



D. S. SPENCER. 



plans, perfected after his death, were approved and executed 
by E. H. Harriman, when he took charge of the road. 

The Salt Lake Route. — The Los Angeles and Salt 
Lake Railroad connects the capital of Utah with the prin- 
cipal cities and towns of Southern California. Comprising the 
old Utah-Nevada, Utah Southern, and Utah Southern Exten- 
sion — the two latter acquired from the Oregon Short Line — 
"The vSalt Lake Route," as it is popularly termed, crosses the 
State line at Uvada, in Iron County, and follows the early 
emigrant trail across the desert, passing through the great 
mining fields of Southern Nevada. The man whose millions 
made possible this enterprise was W. A. Clark, of Montana. 
There is a cut-ofT between Stockton and Lynn Junction, and 
branch lines from Lehi Junction to Boulter, from Tintic to the 



568 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Tintic Mining- District, from Delta to Lucern, and from Mil- 
ford to Frisco. 

Western Pacific and Other Lines. — The Western Pacific 
Railway, built late in the nineties, connects Salt Lake City 
with San Francisco. Several miles of its roadbed extends 
across the southern end of the Great Salt Lake. The Salt 
Lake and Ogden (the Bamberger line) parallels the Oregon 
Short Line and Denver & Rio Grande through Davis County. 
The Salt Lake and Los Angeles, whose original destination 
was Southern California, operates between Salt Lake City 
and Saltair, on the eastern shore of the Lake. Interurban lines 
more recently constructed are the Salt Lake and Utah (the 
Orem road) between Salt Lake City and Payson ; and the 
Ogden, Logan and Idaho, between Ogden and Preston. 





SIMON BAMBERGER. 



W. C. OREM. 



Street Railways. — It was August, 1889. when the first 
electric cars appeared upon the streets of the Utah capital. 
^Vithin a year the entire system of the Salt Lake City Rail- 
road was changed from horse-power to electric traction. In 
1902 the owners, A. W. McCune, Francis Armstrong, and 
others, bought out the Rapid Transit, a competing system, and 
this consolidation, merging into the Utah Light and Power 
Company, became known as the Utah Light and Railway 
Company, It was purchased by E. H. Harriman in 1906, and 



RESOURCES AND DKVEI.OPMKNT. 



569 



improved. The system covers 
Salt Lake City and runs to 
Fort Doui^las, Murray and 
other suburban points. One of 
the latest developments of this 
kind is the Emigration Canyon 
Railroad, built by Le Grand 
Young and associates. Ogden, 
Provo, Logan and Brigham all 
have electric street railways, 
the first named extending up 
Ogden Canyon. 

Telephone and Phonograph. 
■ — The tele[)h()ne was intro- 
duced into Utah by A. Milton 
Musser, who also brought in 
the phonograph, and gave ex 
hibitions of the powers of botli 
instruments at his home to\\'i 
—Salt Lake City. The tele- 
phone came in February, 1878. 
Mr. Musser held the agency for 
Utah. He connected Salt Lake 
City and Ogden temporarily. 





GEORGIi V. WALLACE. 



LE GRAND YOUNG. 

and established several small 
circuits at the capita]. Since 
then great telephone systems 
have taken the field, and quick 
communication is common all 
over the State. The Bell Tele- 
phone Company began busi- 
ness at the Utah capital in 
1880, with an exchange of less 
than one hundred subscribers, 
but soon acquired possession 
of two small isolated plants at 
Park City and Ogden, and 
opened its first long distance 
line between the former place 
and Salt Lake City. Tn 1902 
lliere arose a strong competi- 
t(ir — the Utah Independent 
Telephone Company, whose 
system eml)raced the principal 
towns and mining camps 
throughout the State. Most of 
the small plants distant from 
the capital were absorbed by 



570 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



one or the other of these large companies, which sul)se4iucntly 
merged into one. No Utah name is more intimately connected 
with the telephone business than that of Mr. George Y. Wal- 
lace. 

Electric Light and Power. — The first local experiments 
in electric lighting were made on the streets of Salt Lake City 
about the year 1880. At that time gas was used for street 




HOTEL UTAH. 

and house lighting. Subsequently the Salt Lake and Ogden 
Gas and Electric Light Company operated gas-making plants 
and steam-generating stations in the two cities. During 1894 
a power plant was built in Big Cottonwood Canyon, the ob- 
ject being to use the waters of that creek to generate elec- 
tricity for lighting, heating and propelling purposes. Eleven 
years later a similar plant was put in lower down the stream, 
to furnish power for the Salt Lake City Railroad, which had 
been generating its electric force by steam. Next came the 
Pioneer Power Plant in Ogden Canyon (1897). The owners 
of that enterprise secured a contract for street lighting in 
Salt Lake City. In 1897 and 1901 the Telluride Power Com- 
pany, a Colorado corporation, put power plants in Provo and 
Logan canyons, and in 1903 the Utah Sugar Company placed 
one in Bear River, to operate in connection with its irrigation 
system. These six water power plants now furnish, in con- 



RESOURCES AND ]:)EVEEOPMENT. 



571 



junction with a steam generating- plant at Salt Lake City, elec- 
trical energy to the railway and lig-hting system and manufac- 
turing institutions of Salt Lake City and Ogden. Hundreds 
of miles of transmission lines are used for this purpose. Lo- 
g'an has a power plant of its town, furnishing nearly all the 




MHfllipiiigf^Kt 



NEW HOUSE HOTEL. 

electricity consumed by that city. The Telluride Company 
sells a portion of its power to the Utah Light and Traction 
Company, and with the remainder supplies mining camps and 
rural towns. 

The Present Status. — Utah, with her twenty-eight coun- 
ties, containing 124 cities and towns, has a collective popula- 
tion of 429,191, less than one-third of which is found in Salt 
Lake City, the capital of the State. While the principal occu- 
pations of the people are farming, stock-raising, mining and 
manufacturing, the learned professions and the fine arts have 



572 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

many representatives among them. Educationally, Utah is 
proudly in advance of most of the States of the Union. The 
percentage of illiteracy for native whites is but 0.4, and for 
the entire population, including foreign born, but 2.5. The 
average death rate is 10.8 to the thousand; that of the whole 




ST. MARYS CATHEDRAL. 

United States being 16.5. Apart from alms-houses and asy- 
lums, there are thirteen benevolent institutions in the State. 
Eight of these are hospitals, chief among them the St. Mark's, 
the Holy Cross, and the Dr. William H. Groves Latter-day 
Saints Hospital, in Salt Lake City. At Ogden, the State has 
an institution for the deaf, dumb, and blind. The Dee Hos- 
pital is also located there. The Industrial School at Ogden, 
and the Mental Hospital at Provo have already been men- 
tioned. In different parts there are various chantable institu- 
tions, provided by private associations or religious bodies. The 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



573 







Uli. 



r^ 





4l;il II Iff ffrrlUilff 









'!!*«*».' 



[ rr r ''f 






GROVES L. D. S. HOSPITAL. 




HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL. 



574 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 

National Guard, with headquarters at Salt Lake City, consists 
of cavalry, artillery and infantry, with hospital corps. Total 
strength, December 30, 1915, thirty-two officers and five hun- 
dred and twelve men. The assessed valuation of property of 
all kinds is $540,500,000. 

Great Structures. — Utah has a number of great struc- 
tures, some of palatial magnificence. Most of these are at 




DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND INSTITUTE, OGDEN. 



Salt Lake City. The Temple and the Tabernacle have long 
been noted. Among the edifices more recently constructed 
are the Saltair Pavilion, the Deseret News Building, St. Mary's 
Cathedral, the Boston and Newhouse Buildings, the Hotel 
Utah, the Walker Bank, the Newhouse Hotel, the State Cap- 
itol, and the General Church offices. Saltair, built in 1903, is 
the. largest bathing pavilion in the world. The Hotel Utah 
was opened in 1912; the Newhouse in 1915. The State 
Capitol, constructed of native granite, at a cost of two and a 
half million dollars, stands on Capitol Hill, at the head of State 
Street, upon grounds set apart and improved for the purpose. 
Begun in April, 1913, the building was completed in July, 1915 ; 
the corner stone having been laid the year before. 

A Final Word. — Utah's past is known — partly from the 
story told in these pages. Her present is an open book, which 
one may read at will. But what of the future — the unborn 
future? In what directions will the State expand, and what 



RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT. 



575 



will be the sum and crown of its achievements? The answers 
to these questions will be found, first, in the character of the 
neople- second, in the resources of this wonderful and pro- 
lific rec^ion ; third, in the vocations pursued and the nistitutions 
founde'd and fostered here. One thing is certam-the begin- 
nings of a mightv empire have been laid, and there is little 
donht that the%uperstructure yet to rise will be m every way 




THE UTAH STATE CAPITOL. 

worthy of the massive foundations. Let none be deceived, 
W.wever, as to the true sources of strength, or the real sub- 
stance of prosperitv. Farms and factories, flocks and harvests, 
gold and silver, railroads and power plants-these are not the 
State of Utah, though they help to compose the common- 
wealth They are of the body, without which the spirit would 
be imperfect ; while the body without the spirit would be dead 
The spirit of Utah is in the men and women of Utah. Her true 
wealth, her real prosperity, is in the virtue and integrity o her 
sons and daughters. Tn the character and intelligence of the 
people lie the strength and perpetuity of the State. 



Index 



"A Bit Like a Sermon", 544. 
Agricultural College. The, 458,540. 
Agricultural Forecast, An, 554. 
Agricultural Production for 1915, 

553. 
Agriculture, 547. 
Aiken Case, The, 315. 
Alexander, Colonel, 144, 147. 
Alleged Rebellion, An, 118. 
Almost a Parallel, 234. 
American Party, The, 528. 
Aninestv, An (3ffer of, 438. 
"And a Little Child Shall Lead 

Them," 492. 
"Ann Eliza Case," The, 298, 300. 
Anti-"I\Iormon" Legislation, 242. 
"Anti-Mormonism" in Power, 263, 

375. 
Anti-Polygamy Movement, 332, 

343, 366. 
Approaching Storm, An, 366. 
".Argonauts," The, 59. 
Arizona and ^Mexico, In, 394. 
Arizona, Matters in, 392. 455. 
Arkansas Companv of Emigrants, 

131. 
Armstrong, Mayor Frank, 461. 
Associated Press Tactics, 275. 
Attempts at Reconstruction, 247. 
Auditor and Treasurer, Case of, 

475. 
Axtell, Governor Samuel B., 243, 

297. 

B 

Babbitt, Colonel Almon W., 112. 
Baker Perjury, The, 281. 
Baskin, Judge R. N., 134, 236, 243. 
Bassett Case, The, 431. 
Bates Supersedes Baskin, 281. 
Battle Creek Fight, 67. 
Battleship "Utah," The, 545. 
Bear Lake Vallev Colonized, 191. 
Bear River Battfe, 190. 
Beet Sugar, 94. 
Benson Scheme, The, 26. 
Bernhisel. Dr. John M., 54, 76, 95. 
Better Days at Hand, 454. 
Bishop Brown's Defense, 402. 
Black, Attorney-General Jeremiah 
S., 169, 365. 



Black Hawk War, Expenses and 
Losses of, 205. 

Black Hawk War, The, 204. 

Blaine's Intervention, 485. 

Blair, Seth M., 12. 

Bloodless Campaign, A, 145. 

Bolton, Curtis E., 120. 

Bonneville, Captain Benjamin, 14. 

Bonneville, Lake, 2, 3. 

Bowles, Samuel, 199, 241. 

Box Elder and Weber Controver- 
sies, 481. 

Brandebury, Lemuel G.. 72, 79. 

Brannan, Samuel, 25, 59. 

Brassfield Affair, 207. 

Bridger, Colonel James, 12, 34. 

Brigham City Election, The, 448. 

Brocchus, Perry E., 12, 79. 

Brown, Captain James, 42. 

Buchanan, President James, 120, 
159. 

Buffington, Joseph, 12. 

Burton's "City of the Saints," 175. 

Burton, General Robert T., 144, 
186, 205, 316. 

Business vs. Politics, 455. 



Calamities, A Year of, 110. 

California, Conquest of, 24; Bran- 
nan Colony in, 25. 

California, Emigrants, 129. 

California Volunteers, 188. 

Cameron, Fort, 309. 

Campbell's Protest, 336. 

Camp Douglas Founded, 189. 

Camp Floyd Indignant, 170. 

Camp Scott, 149, -152. 

Caine, Captain Joseph E., 519. 

Caine, John T., Z6Z, 385, 482. 

Cane Creek Massacre, 2)12. 

Canneries, 560. 

Cannon, Angus M., 393, 398. 

Cannon, Captain John Q., 519. 
523. 

Cannon, George Q., 43, 231, 273, 
293, 335, 336, 339, 427, 428, 429, 
464, 483. 

Capital, Location of the, 78. 

Carbon County Strike, The, 523. 

Cardenas, 9. 

Carson. "Kit." 12, 13. 

Cedar Fort Raid, 162. 



57^ WWITSFAS POPULAR [IISTORV OF UTAH 

Centers of Activity, 562. D 

Chamber of Coinnu-rce, The, 455. 

Church's Attitude, 536. "Daily Telegraph" Rstal^lished, 

Churches and Schools. 231 196. 

Church Influence. 340. "Danite" Band, 120. 

Church Leaders. From the, 494. Dark Before the Dawn, The, 435. 

Church I'ersonal Property Re- Davis County, 47. 

turned, 502. Dawson, Governor, 182. 

Citizenship, .Xpplications for, 478. ^^y ^^ Lenity Dawns, A. 463. 

City Creek, 2. Declaration and Protest, 413. 

City Projected, .\, 41. Defense Fund, 389. 

Civic Ot'ticers, 53. Democracy Again Triumphs, 497. 

Civilization and Savagery. 18. i")emocracy. The Young, 386. 

Civil War Period, The, 178. Democracy Triumphant, 385. ] 

Clawson, Bishop If. B., 404. Deputy :Marshal in the Toils, A, 

Claw.son Case, The, 381, 384. 385, "^-f^- 

Cleveland. President Grover. 415 Descret Mint, 61. 

435. ' Deseret News, The, 88, 160, 231 

Clifif Dwellers, 8. 409. 

Clinton, Dr. Jeter, 310. Deseret. Provisional State of, 53. 

Coalville AfTair, The, 317. Desert, Heart of the, 1. 

Cohabitation Defined, 401. Disappointing Statute, A, 407. 

Colfax, Schuyler, 199, 240. Discontented Otticials, 79. }. 

Collin-^IcMurrin Encounter, The, Disfranchisement, Proposed, 482. 'f. 

420. Donner Party, The, 16; Its Tragic 

Colonists. Character of the. 64. Fate, 17. 

Coloni/ation, 17). 191. Doty, Governor James Duan6, 

Colonization, Political, 477. 193, 200. 

Coloraflo River, 2. Douglas-Clayton Hearing, The, 

Community in Mourning. A, 374. 350. 

Connor, C'eneral P. E.,' 187. 196. Douglas. Stephen A.. 157. 

235. Dramatics in Utah, 89. 

Conservative "Gentile" Opposi- Drummond, Jutlge William \^^, 

tion, -U3. 108. 118. 

Constitutional Convention, 285. Dry Farming, 548. 

354. £04. Duke's Company of Emigrants, 
ConstiUition Ratified, 505. 130. 131. 

Constructive Cohabitation, 397. Durkee. Governor Charles. 203. 

Convictions and Pardons, Xum- Dyer, ?^Iarshal Frank. 433, 451. 

ber of. 465. 
Cooke. Colonel P. St. George, 148. E 

Cfkoperative Movement, The, 226. 

Coronado, 9. • Early Events in the V^alley, 45. 

Cotton and Wool. 556. East and West Shake Hands, 221. 

Court of Last Resort, In the, 484. Ecclesiastical Changes, 524. 

Cradlebaugh, Judge, 165. 167, 168. Echo and Coalville Railroad, 222. 

Cragin Bill, The. 242. Echo Canyon, 16. 

Cricket Plague, The, 48. Echo Canyon War, The. 142. 143, 
Crime Against Utah, A. 129. 144, 145. 146, 147, 149, 150, 163. 

Crusade, Methods of the, 3S8. ^ Edmunds Bill, The, 342, 344. 

Crusade of Calumny. A, 339, 375. Edmunds Law Declared Consti- 
Crusade, Outside of Utah, 391. tutional. 396. 

Cullom Bill. The, 243. 278. Edmunds-Tucker Law, The. 445, 
Cullom-Struble Bill, The, 482. 446, 447. 

Cumminc:. Governor Alfred. 127, Educational Spirit. The. 109. 

148. 153. 154. 15,5. 166, 167, 177. Election Returns. 33'^. 

Cumming. Mrs. Alfred, 158. Election Riot. 296. 

Cutler, Governor, 540. Electrical Proclamation, An, 220. 



INDEX. 



579 



Electric Light and Power, .570. 

Elk Mountain Mission, The, 112. 

Emery, Governor George W., 297. 

Emigrants Rescued by "Mor- 
mons," 130. 

Emigration Canyon, 16. 

Emma Mine, The, 224. 

Enabling Act. The, 503. 

End of a Cycle, The, 474. 

Englebrecht Case, The, 267, 288. 

Enterprises and Improvements, 
87. 

Escalante and Dominguez, 9. 

Escheat and Forfeiture Con- 
firmed, 484. 

Escheated Real Estate Returned, 
508. 

Evans Case, The, 385. 

Evarts Circular, The, 333. 

Evenly Developed State, An, 547. 

Exciting Campaign, An, 476. 

Exposition Car, The, 456. 

Extension of Settlements, 87. 



False Telegrams Refuted, 289. 

Famine, Almost a, 57. 

Federal and Territorial Prisoners, 
271. 

Federal Appointees, 72, 77, 163, 
193. 294. 387, 437, 462, 469. 471. 

Federal Courts Without Funds, 
269. 

Federal Officials V^ersus the Peo- 
ple, 192. 

Federal Vacancies Filled, 85. 

Ferguson. General James E., 164. 

Final Battle, A, 482. 

First Birth and Death in the Col- 
ony, 43. 

First Census, 75. 

First Dramatic Presentation. 89. 

First Election, 55. 

First Election after National 
Alignments, 494. 

First Government Mail Service. 
87. 

First InhalMtants, The, 8. 

First Money, 61, 62. 

First Newspaper. 88. 

First Plowing and Planting. 40. 

First Political Convention, 54. 

First Presidencv. Epistle from 
the. 412. 

First Schools. 45. 88. 

First State Legislature, 508. 

First Territorial Election, 75. 

First U. S. Court in Utah, 83. 



Fitch, Thomas, 243, 271, 277, 286. 

Food I'roblem, The, 51. 

Fort Bridger, 16, 35. 

Forty-fifth State, The, 506. 

Free Public Library, The, ,542. 

Fremont, Captain John C, 1, 11, 
24, 25. 

Further Legislation Recommend- 
ed, 407. 

Fusion Movement, A, 458. 



Garfield, President, Assassination 
of, 341. 

G. A. R. Visitors, 431. 

General Assembly, 55. 

"Gentile" Activities, 206. 

"Gentile" Exodus, A Proposed, 
212. 

"Gentile League of Utah," The. 
288. 

"Gentile" Opportimity, The, 236. 

Gladstone and "Mormon" Emi- 
gration, 334. 

Godbeite Influence. 248. 

Godbeite Movement, The, 239, 
243. 

Godbe, William S., 239, 244. 

Gold Discovery, The California, 
58. 

Gold Fever, The. 61. 

Governor's Proclamation and Re- 
port, 440. 

Government Train Burned, M5, 
146. 

Gowans Case, The, 410. 

"Grace Greenwood" and Brigham 
Young, 277. 

Grand Jurors, Unconverted, 410. 

Grant. Captain Frank A., 517. 

Grant, Jedediah M.. 82. 

Grant, President U. S., 302. 

Grasshopper Scourge. 213. 

Great Basin, Beginnings of Gov- 
ernment in the, 53. 

Great Basin, The, 1, 2. 20. 

"Great Half-way Place," The, 206. 

Great Salt Lake, 3. 4. 8, 11. 

Great Salt Lake Citv (see Salt 
Lake City). 

Great Structures, 574. 

Greelej', -Horace, 170, 173. 

Green River, 10. 

Growth of the Commonwealth, 
87. 96. 

Gunnison. Lieutenant John W., 
62. 63, 102, 104. 

Gunnison Massacre, 102, 107, 118. 



580 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



H 

Half-masting Episode, 415. 
Half-mast, Flags Again at, 418. 
Hall of Relics, The, 515. 
Hand-cart Immigration, The, 113, 

114, 115, 116, 117. 
Hanks, Ephraim, 122. 
Harding, Governor Stephen S., 

187, 191. 
Harrison, President, "Policy" of, 

470. 
Harvest Home, Feast of the, 50. 
Haslam, James H., 139. 
Hawkins Case, The, 277. 
Hayes, President R. B., 329. 
Hayne, Julia Dean, 201. 
Heavier Penalties Invoked, 407. 
Heywood, Joseph L., 72. 
High Prices in the Valley, 92. 
Home Manufacture, 93, 179. 
Home Rule and Statehood, 495. 
Hooper, Captain William H., 201, 

238, 246. 
Horticulture, 552. 
Hosannah Shout, The, 368. 
Howell, Joseph, 529. 
Huntington, Dimick B., 9. 



Idaho, Aflfairs in. 391, 454. 

Idaho's Test Oath Sustained, 475. 

Illegal Grand Jury, An, 268. 

Immigration of 1847, 43; of 1848, 
50; of 1849, 64. 

Imprisoned for Contempt, 322. 

Inaugural Ceremonies, 506. 

Independent and Self-supporting, 
547. 

Independence Day Celebration, 
258, 354. 

Indian Attacks, 100. 

Indian Tactics, 31. 

Indian Treaties, 203. 

Indian Troubles, 67, 68, 69, 97, 98, 
101, 102, 103, 104. 290. 

Indians, Brigham Young's Policy 
with, 97. 

Indictments and Arrests, 274. 

Indictment, Conviction and Ap- 
peal, 269. 

Inland Sea, The Shores 'of the, 37. 

Industrial Home, The, 441. 

Irrigation, 548. 

Irrigation, Beginning of, 40. 

Irrigation Congress, 551. 

Irrigation Law, The National, 549. 

Iron County Created, 83. 



Iron Manufactured, 94. 
International Dispute Over Ore- 
gon, 15. 



Japanese Embassy, 290. 

Johnson, Jacob, 529. 

Johnston's Army — The Coming 
of, 118; News of Coming 
Reaches Utah, 122; How News 
was Received, 124; Resistance 
to Army Determined Upon, 
125; Its March Begins, 126; At 
Black's Fork, 149; Passes 
through Salt Lake City, 160; 
Founds Camp Floyd, 160; How 
it Afifected Utah, 161; Abandons 
Camp Floyd, 176; Shameful 
Conduct of Certain Troops, 
176; Farewell Courtesies to Of- 
ficers, 177. 

Johnston, General Albert Sidney, 
126, 148, 153, 159. 

Jordan River, 4, 11. 

Jubilee, The Year of, 326. 

Judge Versus Grand Jury, 166. 



K 



Kane, Colonel Thomas L., 22, 74, 
151, 153, 170. 

Kearns, Senator, and the "Hier- 
archy," 527. 

Kilfoyle, The Case of, 271. 

Kimball, Heber C, 27, 50, 60. 

Kimball-Richards Case, 350. 

King, Wiliam H., 526. 

Kinney, Judge John F., 106, 194, 
201. 



La Hontan, 11. 

Lands. Gift and Sale of, 461. 

Land Jumping, 212, 459. 

Land Question, The, 65, 229. 

Las Vegas Mission, The, 112. 

Later in the Sixties, 199. 

Latter-day Saints, or "Mormons," 
18, 19; Their Exodus, 19, 27; 
On the Threshold of the Wil- 
derness, 19; Government Aid 
Solicited for, 21; Call for the 
"Mormon" Battalion, 21; First 
on Pacific Coast, 25, 28; An- 
other Exodus of, 155; Their At- 
titude towards the Government, 
183; Blamed for Homicides, 208. 



INDEX. 



581 



Lawyer Prosecuted, A, 406. 

Lee, John D., 135, 141, 305, 309, 

310. 
Legislature of 1892, 495. 
Legislature of 1897, 510. 
Legislature, Territorial, 17 , 80, 94, 

96, 285. 
Legislature, The Governor and 

the, 351, 435. 
Lewis and Clark Expedition, 19. 
Liberal Attitude, The, 494. 
Liberal Coalition, The, 260. 
Liberal Party Dissolved, 503. 
Liberal Party, The, 236, 244, 457. 
Liberals Defeated by Fusionists, 

501. 
Liberal Victorv, The, 479. 
Life in the Old Fort, 45. 
Lincoln and the "Mormons," 180. 
Lincoln's Assassination, 198. 
Little, Feramorz, 122. 
Living Flag, The, 545. 
Loyal League, The, 441. 
Lucin Cut-off, The, 566. 
Lund, President Anthon H., 458. 
Lyman, President Francis M., 464. 

M 

McCook, General, 437. 

McCune, Alfred W., 527. 

McKean, Judge James B., 263, 
272, 284, 294, 299. 

Magraw Letter, The. 120. 

Mail Service, First Government, 
87. 

Mail Service, Primitive, 57. 

Manifesto, The, 486: Acceptance 
by the Church, 487; Expres- 
sions from the Presidency Con- 
cerning, 487; Question of Sin- 
cerity of, 489; Question of 
Scope of, 489; General Effect 
of, 490. 

Manufacturing Interests, The, 554. 

Margetts-Cowdy Massacre, The, 
112. 

Marked Ballot, T^e, 246. 

Marriage Law, A New, 457. 

Martial Law Proclaimed, 143. 

Martin's Ravine, 116. 

Maxwell, General George R., 229, 
230, 246, 296, 310. 

Mediation, Peace and Pardon, 
151. 

Mercantile Activities, 92. 

Mercur and the Cyanide Process, 
565. 

Mexican Slave Traders, 98. 



Mexican War, The, 19, 20. 

Miles Case, The, 321, 324, 331. 

Militia Officers Captured, 146. 

Militia, Organization of, 57. 

Militia Service and Fatalities, 204. 

Military Organizations, 519. 

Military Post, A New, 250. 

Military Riot, A, 255. 

Military Versus Civil Authority, 
165, 295. 

Mining Camps, 225, 563. 

Mining Districts, Early, 224. 

Mining, Growth of, 561. 

Minute Men to the Front, 68. 

Mining Movement, The, 195. 

Mining Revival, The, 223. 

Miscellanies, 561. 

Missionaries and Emigrants, 15. 

Mississippi Emigrants, 33. 

"Missouri Wild Cats," 129. 

Missourians for Oregon, ZZ. 

"Mormon" Attitude, The, 367. 

Mormon Battalion — Call for the, 
21; Ready to March, 22; March 
without a Parallel, 23; Services 
— Discharge and Re-enlistment, 
24; Pueblo Detachment Arrives 
in Salt Lake Valley, 42; First 
Arrivals from California, 44. 

"Mormon" Church Property Con- 
fiscated, 449, 451. 

"Mormonism" Survives, 313. 

"MoTmon" Motives, 377. 

"Mormon" System Assailed, The, 
388. 

"Mormon" View of the "Gentile," 
A, 234. 

"Mormon" Women's Protest, 429. 

More Troops for Utah, 151. 

Morrisite Affair, The, 185, 193. 

Morrow, General, 291. 

Morton, Senator and Party, 275. 

Mountain Meadows Massacre, 
The, 128, 129, 132, 133, 135, 139, 
304. 

"Move," Meaning of the, 156. 

Much Ado About Nothing, 418. 

Murray, Governor Elia H., 325, 
2>21, ZZ7, 338, 349, 351, 435. 

Musser Case, The, 400. 

N 

National Conventions, To the, 

496. 
National Party Lines, 491. 
National Political Organizations, 

287. 
Nauvoo Legion, The, 251, 518. 



582 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Nelson, William, 310. 355. 
Newman, Dr. J. P., 251. 
New Order of Things, A, 474. 
Newspapers and Magazines, 231. 
Nicholson, John. 405, 410. 
Nielson, Case of Hans, 466. 
Nineteenth Century Pilgrims, 18. 
Notable Conference, A., 214. 



Obsolete View, An. 23. 

Ogden, Excitement at, 417. 

Ogden Goes Liberal, 471. 

Ogden, Junction, The, 231. 

Old Fort, The, 42. 

Open Venire and the Poland 

Law, 379. 
Oquirrh Mountains, 4. 
Oregon Short Line Railroad, 566. 
Orr vs. McAllister, 266. 
Ovation, A Great, 323. 
Overland Route, The, 15, 181. 



Pacific Telegraph, 180. 

Pageant of Progress, The, 515. 

Parade of the Counties, The, 515. 

Pardoned bv the President, 454. 

Park, Dr. John R., 231. 

Pawnees and Sioux, 31. 

Peace Commission, The, 159. 

Penitentiary Improvements, 464. 

Penitentiary, The Old Utah, 426. 

Penrose, President Charles W., 
409. 479. 

People and Workingmen, 481. 

People's Party and Liberals. 334. 

People's Party Disbands, 493. 

People's Party, The, 236, 244. 

Perpetual Emigrating Fund Com- 
pany. 64, 452. 

Personal Property Question, The, 
485. 

Peterson's Predicament, 385. 

Petitions for Railroad and Tele- 
graph, 94. 

Pioneer Day 1898, 520. 

Pioneer Day, Celebration, 328. 

Pioneer City, 51. 

Pioneer Day, Origin of, 38. 

Pioneer Mills, 48. 

Pioneer Monument. The, 513. 

Pioneers, Book of the, 516. 

Pioneer Sabbath Observance, 40. 

Pioneer Square, 45. 

Pioneer Square. 52, 524. 

Pioneer Survivors at Utah Jubi- 
lee, 512. 



Plural Marriage an Establishment 
of Religion, 184; Legislation 
against, 184; Proceedings 
against, 273. 

Plural Marriage, Proclamation 
of, 84. 

Poland Law, The, 293, 379. 

Police, Special, 389. 

Political Indictments, 478. 

Political Pot-Boiling, 509. 

Polk, President James K.. 21. 

Polygamy a Good War Cry, 444. 

Polygamists, Pardon for, 4i^6. 

Polygamous Children Legitima- 
tized, 509. 

Polygamy Question, The, 200. 

Polygamy, Does the Bible Sanc- 
tion, 251. 

Pony Express, The, 174. 

Powell, Major John W., 3. 

Pratt-Newman Discussion, 250. 

Pratt, 0;-son, 27, 35, 38, 40, 51. 

Pratt, Parley P., 43, ,57, 66, 135. 

Precautions, Unavailing, 394. 

Prehistoric Sea A, 2. 

Preparing for Sovereignty, 491. 

Present Status, The, 571. 

President Cleveland's Policy, 435. 

President Cleveland's Promise, 
415. 

President Harrison at Liberty 
Park, 493. 

President Harrison's Visit, 491. 

Press Comments, 157. 

Probate Courts and their Juris- 
diction, 83. 

Probate Courts Curtailed, 267. 

"Promise to Obey," The, 397. 

Proposed Regeneration, 195. 

Prosecution, Purposes of the, 397. 

Provo River, 2, 10. 

Provo River Fight, 68. 

Provost Guard in Salt Lake City, 
196, 422. 

R 

Radicals and Conservatives, 260. 
Raiders, Tactics of the, 419. 
Railroad, Another Great, 370. 
Railroads, 566. 
Railroad, The, and What Came 

with it, 216. 
"Rascal and a Wretch," A, 480. 
Rawlins Chosen Senator, 510. 
Rawlins Elected Delegate, 496. 
Receivers' Compensation, The, 

463. 
Records Found Intact, 154. 



INDEX. 



583 



"Reformation," The, 137. 
Reform School, The, 458. 
Registrars and Registration, 476. 
Registration and Test Oath, 359. 
Reign of Terror, A, 366^ 
Religious Parliament, The, SOU. 
Reorganized Church of Latter- 
day Saints. 239. 

Republican Victory, A, M)4. 

Rescued by the Gulls, 49. 

Resources and Development, 54/. 

Retirement, In, 396. 

Return of the Volunteers, 521. 

Reynolds Case, The, 300, 317, 320. 

Richards, Frankhn D., 102. 

Richards, Franklin S., 439, 442. 

Richards, Willard, 50. 

"Ring," The, 263. . , ^ .. , 

Rioters Court-Martialed, 2:)6. 

Rio Virgen Valley, 5. 

Roberts^ B. H., 430, ,500, 526, 52.. 

Robinson Murder, The, 209, 211, 

2*^1 
Rockvvood, Warden Albert P., 

270. 
Rocky Mountains, 7. . ,. u 

Roosevelt, President, Visits Utah, 

539. 
Rumors of War, 176. 
Rush Valley Mining Claims, 22o. 



Saint George Temple, 313. 
"Saints and Sinners," 355 
Salmon River Mission, The, UZ. 
Salt Lake City, .51. 
Salt Lake City Election, 245. 
Salt Lake City Officers Under Ar- 
rest, 268. 
Salt Lake Herald, 231. 
Salt Lake Route, The, 567. 
Salt Lake Temple Begun, 91. 
Salt Lake Temple Dedicated, 497. 
Salt Lake Theatre, 202. 

Salt Lake Tribune, 231, 261. 

Salt Lake Stake, 53. 

Salt Lake Valley, 2, 6; Descrip- 
tion of, 37; Explored, 41. 

Salt Production, 559. 

Sandford, Judge Elliot, 462, 465, 
470. 

Sanpete County, 2. . , ., 

Sanpete Valley Colonized, 66 

Scanlan, Bishop Lawrence, 233. 

School Tax Case. The, 392. 

Schools, Free, 480. 

"Scrip Case," The, 229. 



Sedition and Polygamy, Charges 

of. 81- 
"Segregation." 408 411 443. 

Sensational Episodes 41/. 
Sensational Period, A 304. 
Sensational Prosecutions, More, 

279 
Sentenced to Die on Sunday, 164. 
Sericulture, 555. 
Sevier County, 2, 203. 
Shaffer, Governor J. Wilson, 24/, 

251, 252, 255, 257. 
Sharp, Bishop John, 403. 
Shaver, Judge l^eomdas, 107. 
Sheridan. Genera Phil, 250_ 
Sherman, General William T., 256. 
Shoshone Indians, 8. 42. 
Silver Lake Celebration, 123. 
Smelters and Mills, 564 
Smelters and Stamp AIiUs, 226 
Smith, George A., 6/, 94, 100, 110, 

308. 
Smith, John Henry 504_ 
Smith, Joseph, 18, 19, 27 
Smith, Joseph F., 51, 5/4. 
Smith, Major Lot 145 
Smoot, Abraham O., !/-• 
Smoot Investigation, 5Zy, 3.53. 
Smoot, Reed, 529 
Snow, Eliza R., 333. 
Snow, Erastus, 39^ 
Snow, Lorenzo, 10/, 4iy, ^^^x ■+-■+- 

425. 438, 442, 524. 
Snow, Zerubbabel, 72, 82. 
Social Hall Built, 89 
Soils and Products, 5bl 
Southern Utah Explored. 66 
Spencer, Howard, Acquittal ot, 

467. 
Spencer, Orson, 89. 
Spencer-Pike Homicide, The, 162. 
Spry, Governor, 542 
Spry Policy, The, 546. 
Stampede, Description of a, iL 
Standing Murder, The 371, 372 
Stansbury, Captain Howard, 1/, 

62, 63. 
Stansbury Expedition 62, 68 
Stars and Stripes on Ensign Peak, 

41- 

State and Territorial Govern- 
ment, 73. 

State Government, A Temporary, 
55. ,^_ 

State Officers Chosen 505 

Statehood Opposed, 71, 110, 28i, 
457, 468. 



584 WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Statehood, Petition for, 5,5, 182, 

354. 
Steptoe, Colonel, 106. 
Stiles, Judge George P., 108, 121. 
Strawberry Valley Project, The, 

550. 
Street Railways, 568. 
Sugar Making, 558. 
Summit County, 2. 
Sutherland, George, 526, 528. 
"System on Trial," A, 274. 



Tabernacle and Organ, 214. 
Tabernacle Mass Meeting, The, 

414. 
Tabernacle Reception, The, 514. 
Tabernacle, The Old, 90, 154. 
Taft, President, in Utah, 543. 
Taylor, President John, 43, 110, 

314, 318, 329, Z61 , 395, 449. 
Taylor, Stephen, 115. 
Telegraph Line, The Deseret, 205. 
Telephone and Phonograph, 569. 
Territorial Attorney-General and 

Marshal, 83. 
Territorial Library, 89. 
Territorial Officers Ousted, 267. 
Territory Proposed, A, 54. 
Territory Redistricted, The, 449. 
Textile Industry, The, 555. 
Thomas, Governor Arthur L., 469, 

472, 483. 
Thompson-Dalton Homicide, The, 

432, 433. 
Three Classes in Utah, 234. 
Tintic War, The, 111. 
Toleration, A Sentiment of, 490. 
Tooele County, Election in, 296. 
Tooele Valley Colonized, 66. 
Tragic Fate, A, 17. 
Trappers and Traders, 13. 
"Tree of Liberty," The, 326. 
Trespassers Ousted, 460. 



U 



Uintah Mountains, 3. 

Under the Harrow, 388. 

Union Pacific and Central Pacific, 

217. 
"Union Vedette" Published, l96, 

198. 
University of Utah, 69, 88, 230, 

352, 541. 
"Unlawful Cohabitation," 399. 
"Upper California," 21. 
Ute Indians, 8, 42. 



Utah Affairs in Congress, 292. 

Utah as Gamaliel, .549. 

Utah at the Front, 520. 

Utah at the World's Fair, 498. 

Utah Batteries The, 517, 521. 

Utah Boundaries Re-defined, 179. 

Utah-California Boundary, 108. 

Utah Central Railroad, 221. 

Utah — Character of the Country, 
1; General Features and Divis- 
ions, 3; Climate, Scenery and 
Resources, 5, 6; Previous Con- 
ditions, 6; "A Vast Worthless 
Area," 6, 7; Native Tribes, 8; 
First Inhabitants, 8; Spanish 
Explorers, 9; Mexican Poses- 
sions, 20; Territory of, 71; 
Boundary Lines, 71; Towns in 
1853, 95. 

Utah Commission, The, 347, 356, 
364, 448, 472. 

Utah Contracts and Contractors, 
217. 

Utah County Colonized, 66. 

Utah Cut Down, 178. 

Utah Day at the World's Fair, 
500. 

Utah Democrats, 491. 

"Utah Has Not Seceded," 180. 

Utah Jubilee, The, 511. 

Utah Lake, 10. 

Utah Militia, The, 142. 

Utah National Guard, 518. 

Utah Penitentiary, The, 270. 

Utah Pioneers, 6; Preparation for 
Departure, 27; Equipment and 
Discipline, 29; Three Pioneer 
Women, 29; Journey and Mode 
of Travel, 30; Hunting the Bi- 
son, Z2; Crossing the Platte 
33; Over the Great Divide, 34 
First Glimpse of the Valley, 35 
"The Right Place/' 36; Their 
Views Concerning the Salt 
Lake Valley, 39; Return to the 
Missouri, 43; Incidents of the 
Journey, 43. 

Utah Republicans, 493. 

Utah's Admission, Announcement 
of, 506. 

Utah's "Irrepressible Conflict," 
235. 

Utah's Relief Offering to Chicago 
Fire Sufferers, 276. 

Utah Valley, 2. 

Utah Volunteers, Goodwin's Trib- 
^ ute to, 522. 



INDEX. 



585 



Utah Volunteers Killed in the 

Philippines, 522. 
Utah, Why Kept Out of the 

Union, 183, 



Van Vliet, Captain Stewart, 127. 
Vaughan, Governor Vernon H., 

257. 
Volunteers, Enlistment of, 517. 

W 

Walker, Indian Chief, 98, 105. 

Walker War, 98, 99, 105. 

War and Politics, 517. 

"War Governor, The," 247. 

Wasatch Mountains, 1, 3, 4. 

Washakie, Indian Chief, 98. 

Washington Count}' Created, 83. 

Weber County, 47. 

Webster, Daniel, 7. 

Wells, Emmeline B., 231. 

Wells, General Daniel H., 57, 69, 

142, 143, 205, 230, 253, 322. 
Wells, Governor Heber M., 505, 

507, 539. 
Wells, Lieutenant Briant H., 517. 
Wells vs. Winters, 477. 
Western Pacific Railroad, 568. 
West, Governor Caleb W., 437. 
West, Governor, for Statehood, 

501. 
What of the Outcome? 485. 
Wilson, Chief Justice Charles C, 

249. 
Winder, Colonel John R., liO, 205. 



Woman Defendants, 402. 
Woman's Exponent, The, 231. 
Woman's Suffrage, 249, 362. 
Women Imprisoned, 368. 
Women of the Nation, To the, 

332. 
Wooden Gun Rebellion, 257. 
Woodruff, Wilford, 38, 102, 516, 

524. 
Woods, Governor George L., 258. 
Wrong Righted, A, 479. 



Young, Brigham, Estate in Liti- 
gation, 324. 

Young, Captain Willard, 519. 

Young, Joseph A., 115, 222. 

Young, Lieutenant R. W., 437, 
517. 

Young, Mrs., Attacked by Indian, 
46. 

Young, President Brigham, 21, 22, 
26, 27, 30, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 43, 
50, 61, 68, 72, 74, 79, 81, 97, 106, 
124, 125, 127, 140, 167, 171, 192, 
208, 247, 277, 280, 283, 298, 306, 
311, 312. 

Young, Seymour B., 430. 

Y. X. Company, The, 120. 



Zane, Chief Justice C. S., 378, 393, 

400, 462, 471, 505. 
Zion's Co-operative Mercantile 

Institution, 226. 



Illustrations 



Agricultural College, 541. 
American Smelter, Garfield, 565. 
Armstrong, Mayor, 461. 
Arthur, President, 343. 
Augusta Natural Bridge, 537. 
Axtell, Governor, 297. 

B 

Bamberger, Simon, 568. 
Baskin, Mayor, 502. 
Bee Hive House. 171. 
Bernhisel, John M., 76. 
Bingham, 225. 
Blaine, Secretary, 485. 
Bonneville, Captain, 14. 
Bridger, Colonel, 13 . 
Brine Shrimp, The, 14. 
Brown, Francis A., 402. 
Bryan, William J., 512. 
Buchanan, President, 120. 
Budge, William, 391. 
Bullock, Mrs. Electa, 501. 
Burt, Chief, 268. 
Burton, Robert T., 144. 



D 



Dallin, C. E., 515. 

Dalton, Edward M., 432. 

Dancing Ute, 10. 

Dawson, Governor, 183. 

Dern, John, 563. 

Deaf. Dumb and Blind Institute, 

574. 
Doty, Governor, 194. 
Durkee, Governor, 203. 
Dyer, Marshal, 433. 



E 



East and West Shake Hands, 220. 

Emery, Governor, 298. 

Emigrant Train Passing Chimney 

Rock, 65. 
Empey, Nelson A., 500. 



Federal Building, Ogden, 516. 
Federal Building, Salt Lake City, 

509. 
Fillmore, President, 72 
Fremont, Captain, 12. 



Caine, Captain J. E., 519. 
Caine, John T., 364. 
Calvin, E. E., 567. 
Campbell, Allen G., 336. 
Cannon, Angus M., 394. 
Cannon, General, 523. 
Cannon, George Q., 335. 
Center Street, Provo, 544. 
Chambers, Robert C, 499. 
Clark, Senator W. A., 551. 
Clawson, Bishop, 404. 
Clawson, Rudger, 383. 
Clawson, Spencer, 511. 
Clayton, N. W.. 436. 
Cleveland, President, 435. 
Colburn, Judge E. F., 547. 
Connor, General, 188. 
Cooke, Colonel, 24. 
Council House, The, 56. 
Culmer, "Harry," 456. 
Gumming, Governor, 154. 
Cutler, Governor, 540. 
Cutler, Thomas R., 560. 



Garfield, President, 341. 
Godbe, William S., 239. 
Goodwin, Judge, 355. 
Gowans, Hugh S., 410. 
Grant, Captain, F. A., 519. 
Grant, Heber J., 559. 
Grant, President, 303. 
Great Salt Lake City, 1853, 95. 
Greeley, Horace, 173. 
Groo, Byron, 386. 
Groves L. D. S. Hospital, 573. 
Gull Monument, 49. 

H 

Hand-cart Train, A, 114. 
Harding, Governor, 187. 
Harrison, President, 492. 
Haslam, J. H., 139. 
Hayes, President, 329. 
Hayne, Julia Dean, 202. 
Holy Cross Hospital, 573. 
Home, Joseph, 556. 



INDEX. 



587 



Hotel Utah, 570. 

Howell, Representative, 529. 



J 



Jackling, D. C, 562. 
Jennings, Mayor, 361. 
Johnston, General, 126. 

K 

Kane, Colonel, 151. 
Kearns, Senator, 528. 
Keith, David, 564. 
Kiesel, Mayor, 472. 
Kimball, Heber C, 60. 
King, William H., 510. 
Kinney, Judge, 106. 
Knight, Jesse, 442. 
Knight Woolen ]\Iills, 557. 



Old Fort, The, 45. 

Orem, W. C, 568. 

Overland Stage Coach, The, 170. 



Packard Free Library, 536. 
Park City, 226. 
Park, Dr. John R., 231. 
Penrose, Charles W., 409. 
Pioneer Cabin, A, 46. 
Pioneer Monument, The, 514. 
Pioneer Printing Press, 88. 
Pony E.xpress, The, 175. 
Powers, Judge, 423. 
Pratt, Orson, 38. 
Pratt, P. P., 136. 
Pratt, Warden, 464. 
President's Office, 171. 
Preston, Bishop, 452. 
Pueblo Homes, 9. 



Lawrence, Henry W., 245. 
Leonard, Bishop, 531. 
Lincoln, President, 180. 
Lion House. The, 171. 
Lund, Anthon H., 458. 
Lyman, Francis M., 463. 

Mc. 

McClellan, Professor Tohn J., 552. 
McCornick. William S., 459. 
McKean, Judge, 264. 
McKinley, President, 512. 
Mc^Iurrin, Joseph W., 421. 

M 

Miner, Judge, 406. 
Morris, Elias, 558. 
Murray, Governor, 325. 
Musser, A. Milton, 400. 

N 

Newhouse Hotel, 571. 
Newhouse, Samuel, 561. 
New Penitentiary, or State Pris- 
on, 465. 
Niblcy, Bishop C. W., 559. 
Nicholson, John, 405. 



Officers' Quarters, Fort Douglas, 

189. 
Old City Hall, Salt Lake City. 

490. 



R 



Rawlins, Delegate, 496. 
Richards, Franklin D., 351. 
Richards, Franklin S., 439. 
Richards, Mrs. Emily S., 500. 
Richards, Secretary, 497. 
Rich, C. C, 130. 
Reynolds, George, 301. 
Roberts, Bolivar, 460. 
Roberts, Representative, 525. 
Roosevelt, President, 539. 



St. George Temple, 313. 

St. iMark's Hospital, 232. 

St. Mary's Cathedral, 572. 

Salisbury, O. J., 495. 

Salt Lake City and County Build- 
ing, 327. 

Salt Lake Tabernacle, 214. 

Salt Lake Tabernacle Interior, 
328. 

Salt Lake Temple, 498. 

Salt Lake Theatre, 202. 

Salt Lake Valley in 1847, 17. 

Scanlan, Bishop, 232. 

Sego Lily, The. 58. 

Shaffer, Governor, 248. 

Sharp, Bishop, 218. 

Sheridan, General, 250. 

Sherman, General, 256. 

Silver Lake. 123. 

Simon, Fred, 483. 

Smith, George A., 101. 

Smith, John Henry, 504. 



588 



WHITNEY'S POPULAR HISTORY OF UTAH. 



Smith, Joseph, 18. 

Smith, Lot, 145. 

Smith, President, 524. 

Smoot, Mayor, 122. 

Smoot, Senator, 530. 

Snow, Eliza R., 333. 

Snow, Erastus, 39. 

Snow, Judge, 82. 

Snow, Lorenzo, 419. 

Social Hall, The, 90. 

Spencer, D. S., 567. 

Spencer, Orson, 89. 

Spry, Governor, 542. 

State House at Fillmore 78. 

State Industrial School, 535. 

Stayner, Arthur, 558. 

Stephens, Evan, 513. _ 

Strawberry Valley Reservoir, 55U. 

Sunset on the Great Salt Lake, 6. 

Sutherland, Judge, 387. 

Sutherland, Representative, bZ/. 



Taft, President, 543. 
Taylor, President John, 33U. 
Temple Block, Salt Lake City, 91. 
Territorial Asylum for the In- 
sane, 354. 
Thatcher, Moses, 417. 
Thomas, Governor, 473. 
Thurman, S. R., 467. 
Tuttle, Bishop, 206. 

U 

Union Square University Build- 
ing, 353. . . 

University of Utah Administra- 
tion Building, 541. 

Utah Agricultural College 541. 

Utah Commission, The, 347. 

Utah Past and Present, 178. 

Utah "Pen," The Old, 427. 

Utah Rambouillett Sheep, 553. 



Utah State Capitol, 575. 
"Utah," The, U. S. N., 546. 



Van Cott, Waldemar, 532. 
Vaughan, Governor, 257. 

W 

Walker Brothers' Store, 228. 
Walker, J. Robinson, 224. 
Wallace, George Y., 569 
Washakie, 99. 

Wedgewood, Captain E. A., 5Z1. 
Wells, Emmeline B., 362. 
Wells, General, 142. 
Wells, Governor, 506. 
Wells, Lieutenant, 520. 
West, Governor, 438. 
Whitney, Horace G., 560. 
Widtsoe, Dr. John A., 554. 
Winder, Bishop, 451. 
Women Pioneers, The Three, 29. 
Woodruff, President, and Coun- 
selors, 474. 
Woodruff, President, 486. 
Woods, Governor, 258. 



Young, Brigham, 27, 311. 
Young, Brigham, Grave of, 314. 
Young, Brigham, Jr., 515. 
Young, Captain R. W., 517. 
Young, Colonel Willard, 520. 
Young, Dr. Harry A.. 522. 
Young, Joseph A., 222. 
Young, Le Grand. 569. 
Young, Seymour B., 430. 



Zane, Judge, 378. 

Z. C. M. L Main Building, 227. 



138 91 




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